Think of The Firefly
by DettyisLove
Summary: What would happen if Betty decided to go to Tucson to be with Henry? Is Betty really happy with him? Everyone has a firefly. Will Betty find hers?
1. Think of The Firefly

**Think of the Firefly**

**_*What would happen if Betty decided to go to Tucson to be with Henry? Is Betty really happy with him? _**

**_Everyone has a firefly. Will Betty find hers?_**

**_Hope you like it! I actually have 75% of the story typed up and ready, so speedy updates with this one! :)_**

**__****_Also I would really like to dedicate this story to Betty the Bonita (Luaralee). You have inspired me so much, and I'm sure you inspire a lot of others with your writing. Lots of love and light to you always! :) Hope you keep smiling! _**

For entertainment only! :P

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**Chapter 1**

**From Mountains to City**

Betty walked up to the mountains looking out into the city, taking in the dry Arizona air. She had done that every night since she came to Tucson. It was the only thing that calmed her nerves and made her clear her mind. Looking out, seeing the glimmering lights of the buildings, the moon radiantly glowing behind the mountains. It_ was_ a beautiful view she thought. The lights reminded her of New York. It kind of reminded her of the bridge …which reminded her of Daniel. She didn't realize how much she would miss Daniel. She thought of him a lot more than she thought she would or probably should. She missed her family. Speaking of her family… "Hi Hilda!"

"Bet-ty!" Hilda said in excitement. "How are you, mami?"

"I'm good, Hilda. I was just taking a walk."

"Are you at the mountains again, Betty?" Hilda asked knowingly.

Betty laughed slightly. "I am. How'd you know?" she asked teasingly.

"Come on, Betty. You've been up there every night." She paused for a moment. "Is, uh, everything alright over there, Betty?" Hilda asked in slight concern.

"Everything's fine Hilda. I just like it up here. It reminds me of New York and it calms me down."

"Calms you down from what?" Hilda asked suspiciously. Hilda knew how Betty was; she would never admit if something was wrong with her, afraid to bother anyone.

"Nothing Hilda…I just…I just miss you, and everyone." Betty held back the fountain of tears that she felt about to come. "This place just…I guess it connects me to all of you."

"That's nice Betty. You should send us a picture. Look, mami we're about to have dinner, do you want to talk to…" Before Hilda could even ask, Justin took the phone out of his mom's hand. "Aunt Betty! We miss you AB!" Justin said happily. "I miss you too, Justin. Are you taking care of everyone?"

"You got it, AB. You will not believe who's-"

"Mijaaa!" Ignacio said happily, anxiously taking the phone from Justin.

"Papi! I miss you, Papi", how are you? Are you taking care of yourself?" Betty asked caringly.

"Betty, we're fine. How are you?"

"I'm good, Papi. I miss you all so much. You're going to come visit me soon, right?" Betty said with a shaky voice. "We will be there before you know it, mija. Te amo."

"I love you, Papi" Betty's tears started to come slowly, her voice slightly more shaky. "Oh man, I better go, Daniel is about to set the house on fire with the food. I love you, mija" Betty's eyes got big in shock. What was Daniel doing at her house?

"Betty, are you there?" Hilda's voice asked as she got hold of the phone. "Uh… Hilda? Daniel's at…umm…he's there?" she asked, her voice slightly shaky again.

Hilda went to the living room. "Hey Betty… Yes, Daniel is here. He's been here almost every night since you left. I think he misses you, Betty. Do you…uh want to talk to him, Betty?"

Betty was silent for a moment, her heart was racing, she didn't really know why. "Uh…no, Hilda, that's ok. I actually have to get going now; Henry's waiting for me." She lied, Henry had been working late almost every night, and she just wanted an excuse to not talk to Daniel.

"Alright, Betty… I'll tell him you said hi." Betty quickly responded "no, don't do that Hilda. I will, uh…I'll just call him later." She lied again; she had no intention of calling him anytime soon. "Umm…alright Betty… I miss you."

"I miss you too, Hilda. Bye. Give everyone a hug for me" Betty said, with her tears ready to fall down her face. "…Even Daniel?" Hilda asked slightly teasing Betty.

"Whatever Hilda… I need to go, bye!" Betty quickly hung up the phone, her tears finally coming. She sat at the mountains crying for some time. She just wanted to let it all out. Who was she kidding, the tears almost never stopped.

"Hey Hilda… Did Betty say anything? I mean, she knew I was here right?" Daniel asked curiously as he walked in the room Hilda was in.

"Uh…she did, but before she could say anything, she had to go. I'm sorry. She said she would call you."

Daniel looked down at his feet in slight disappointment; deep down he knew she wouldn't call him.

"You miss her a lot don't you?" Hilda said looking at his eyes that seemed slightly glossy.

"It's just hard…we spent practically every day together, so it's kind of hard to adjust." Daniel said his voice cracking slightly. Hilda nodded in agreement. She looked at Daniel and gave him a hug. "That hug is from, Betty." She said with a smile. He smiled back. "Thanks"

"Alright you two, food's done" Ignacio said as he walked in the living room. "Great, I'm hungry." Hilda said happily.

"Thank you, Mr. Suarez, umm, for letting me…uh…" Ignacio patted him on the back "no problem, mijo." Daniel smiled at Ignacio's word of endearment. They thought of him like a part of their family. He loved them just the same, he thought. They all made their way to the dining room for dinner, eating and talking about MODE and…Betty.

Betty made her way back to the house. The rather empty house… it was cute she thought. There were paintings along the walls with views of Tucson. Her favorite was the one in her room of New York. She actually liked that she had her own room. Whenever she couldn't sleep, she would just stare at the painting pretending she was there.

Betty reached the glass-trimmed door, getting the key out of her pocket. She walked through the main room. It had a table in the center, with a couch against the window. She loved that the house was close to the mountains, practically part of the mountains.

She walked to the kitchen and got a glass of water, then went to her room. She went to sit at the chair next to the window. She loved the view. That was the best part about Tucson: the mountains and the view from their house. She took out a box from her drawer and opened it 'Just think of the firefly' she said to herself.

Betty looked at her watch. It was now 10:30pm. She wondered where Henry was. He was rather late, she thought. Probably going to see Charlie and the baby… Betty sighed and just decided to go to sleep. She didn't really want to think about anything. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

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AN: please review!


	2. Dan? Dancing?

**Think of The Firefly**

_**I uploaded this chapter, too, because I think it gives a better idea of the story. **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

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**Chapter 2**

**Dan…Dancing?**

Betty couldn't sleep. Every time she thought she was doing well on sleep, she would dream of Daniel. She probably had about three dreams of Daniel. The first one was of him and her talking and laughing and getting ice cream in New York. Then the second one was a variation of their 'date' when they ran from the paparazzi. They were both harmless and just reminded her of the good times she had with Daniel and at MODE, mostly because of Daniel. The last dream was basically the night she told Daniel she was leaving to Tucson.

"_Daniel." Betty said as she walked in Daniel's office. As she entered his office, she noticed his head was on the desk in his arms "Daniel, are you, um…are you ok?" she asked concerned. He lifted his head up, she could see that he was upset, and possibly stressed. "Betty…" he said her name so softly, it was almost a whisper. Betty didn't need to ask, she knew that he knew she was leaving. She felt horrible that she wasn't the first person to tell him. He had to hear it from Amanda. It was an accident, but it would have been easier…well, would it have been easier if she told him? She didn't know. _

"_Daniel. Look, I'm uhh…I'm really sorry." She sighed. She didn't know what to say. She felt like she was falling from the sky. Daniel looked at her, without an expression on his face. She didn't know what was going through his mind right now, but she knew it hurt her. "Betty, it's fine. I just…I just want you to be happy. I wish you…uh…didn't have to go. I know you have to though. I hope you have a nice life with…uh…him." He couldn't say his name. It sent a pain through him he didn't understand. Daniel got up from his chair and walked in front of his desk, looking at her. "I just want you to know, Betty, that you will always have a friend in New York that will come running to you if you need it." Betty felt tears start to form. She fought her tears. _

"_I…uh…I got you something Betty." Daniel said as he walked to his desk, pulling out a slightly long wooden box out of his desk drawer. It was small enough to fit in his hand. He came around the desk and handed her the wooden box. Betty looked at it; on the front it was engraved and said Betty with a butterfly at the end of her name. When she opened it, there was another engraving on the inside cover "Let your life be illuminated like a firefly…" The tears in Betty's eyes started to form again. In the box was another note, and a pen that had a silver B pendent hanging from it. Betty opened the note, _

"_Betty,_

_I am so…this is kind of hard for me, but I'm really proud of everything you've done Betty. I wish your dreams come true. I guess you can use this pen to write…I know you will change the world with your writing, Betty. I just want you to know that I will always be happy for you. Whenever you are sad or something, which I hope you're not Betty (that would make me sad) but if you are just think of the firefly. It brings light to our somewhat dark times. Always follow your heart, Betty. I…uh…I'm really going to miss you, Betty. You are the best assistant ever, and you're also my amazing friend._

_ Love, Your friend Daniel. _

_p.s. You are beautiful like the butterfly." _

_Betty folded the note and put it back in the box and closed it. She looked at the box for another minute. Daniel looked at her, trying to read her face. She didn't say anything or even have an expression on her face that Daniel could identify. All the sudden, tears started running along her cheeks. She looked up at Daniel, his eyes glossy, "I'm…I…uh…" she started to cry, letting all her tears fall freely now, she couldn't hold them back anymore. She pulled Daniel to her for a huge hug, which sent butterflies through her. Betty still didn't want to let go. She could smell his cologne, it smelled like Daniel, she thought. She held him for a minute longer "I'm…uh…I'm really going to miss you, Daniel. Thank you for…for everything." Daniel put his arms around her now hugging her tighter to him. _

Henry walked into Betty's room and snuggled in under the covers next to her. He kissed her cheek sweetly, Betty rolled over slightly "mmm, Dan-" When she opened her eyes she noticed "Henry!" she said slightly flustered, extremely relieved she opened her eyes before she said what she has been thinking about for the past week. "Hey Betty…" he smiled sweetly at her. "What were you saying? You said dan?"

"Oh right. I was dreaming that we went dancing." She felt horrible for lying, but she most definitely couldn't tell him what she was really going to say. "Oh, dancing? Do you want to go dancing, Betty?" he asked kissing her hand. "Umm, sure… that would be…nice" she smiled.

"Ok. Maybe we can go tonight. I get off work a little earlier tonight."

"ok" Betty smiled slightly, still a little nervous about her umm…dream. "I'm sorry I got home late, Betty. I tried to call you, but it went to voicemail."

"Oh. When did you call? …Because I was talking to Hilda…maybe you…um…called when I was on the phone with her." Betty said looking at her phone, there was a missed call. "Sorry." Betty said looking at him.

"It's ok, Betty. Are you hungry? Do you want to go to breakfast before I go to work?" he said sweetly pulling her out of the bed. Betty smiled "ya, I'm starving, I didn't eat that much last night." Betty and Henry got dressed headed out to a café rather close to Henry's work building.

They enjoyed their breakfast and coffee, talking about their evening plans. "So, Betty, I'll stop by the house at 8:30 and we can go together."

"Ok." Betty said happily.

"Great, bye Betty. I love you." Henry said getting up from his chair and kissing Betty.

"Me too." She smiled. "Henry…" Betty said as he was about to leave. He stopped and looked at her.

"I'm really looking forward to our plans tonight." Betty said smiling. Henry smiled and kissed her cheek. "Me too, Betty"

Henry left Betty at the café to her book. The café had a small bookstore attached to it, where Betty would read a new book every day. Today, she decided to try and find a job. She wanted to work again. She was getting bored. She needed to keep herself busy. She knew some reasons why, but wished to not explore them. Betty looked through the newspapers to see if she could find something in publishing or writing, anything really, she just wanted to stay busy. Just when she was about to give up, she saw an ad for Tucson Lifestyle Magazine for a charity event planning. She didn't want to be an event planner, but perhaps this could get her through to writing.

She quickly called, and was set up for an interview later tomorrow. Betty was kind of nervous, but she knew she could get it done. She wanted to go for a walk again, so she got up and put the book back in the bookstore and was heading out when she bumped into someone, nearly falling.

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AN: Let me know what you think! :) :)


	3. Unexpected Company

**Think of The Firefly**

**_Thank YOU SOOO MUCH for your awesome comments! they got me a million times more excited! :) Hope you enjoy this chapter! I wonder who the mystery person could be ;) lol_**

**_For entertainment only! :P_**

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**Chapter 3**

**Unexpected Company **

Betty walked out of the bookstore, suddenly bumping into someone, nearly falling over. As the person helped her up, she said "I'm so sorry" then looked up not being able to fully register who she was seeing in front of her.

"Daniel?" Betty looked at him in front of her, not sure if she was hallucinating or not. She slowly touched his arm to see if he was real. "Are you really here?" Daniel couldn't help but laugh a little. "Yes, Betty. It's me, Daniel." He said smiling at her. "Did you forget what I looked like already? I'm glad I came, then." He said teasingly. Betty looked at him for a second and then looked away for a few seconds, then back at him.

"What are you, um…what are you doing here?" she asked confused, but really curious, suddenly thinking of her dream. Betty was in complete shock. Did she conjure Daniel up with her dream or something? How was he here?

"Are you happy here Betty?" Daniel asked frankly snapping Betty out of her thoughts. "What? What kind of question is that Daniel? Of course I'm happy here." She said without making eye contact with him. She knew if she looked at him he would be able to read her eyes. She hated that. Well, Sometimes...

"Are you…sure, Betty?" he asked trying to read her face. He knew she was a horrible liar and when she didn't make eye contact with him, he knew she was hiding something.

"Daniel." Betty sighed heavily unsure of what was even happening. "Why are you here?" she asked in a slightly distressed tone.

"I…uh…I wanted to see if you were ok, Betty." Betty looked at him skeptically. "So, you came more than half way across the US to see if I was ok?" she didn't understand it. Why would Daniel do that? He could have just called, sent an e-mail, letter or something. "Why didn't you just call me?"

He looked down at his shoes "I…uh… I didn't think about that." Betty looked at him curiously. After a few very long seconds of silence, Daniel broke it "So, you said you're happy here, huh?" When she didn't speak he added "So, uh how's…how is he?"

"He's good." Betty said, pretty sure he was referring to Henry.

"Ok." He responded plainly.

"How's MODE?" Betty asked trying to get some ounce of information that told her why he was here.

"It's good." He said simply. "Do you um…want to maybe have some coffee or something?" He said looking at her. "Uh…okay. I mean I already had some coffee, but I could get some tea or something" Daniel smiled "Great." They started walking; Daniel was getting closer and closer to her. Betty didn't know if he realized it or not; then his arm brushed along hers' slightly as he opened the door for her. She glanced at him, but looked back in front of her and continued to walk in.

They sat in the café, Daniel looking around. "This place is ... uh… nice." He said as he took another look. Betty smiled. "I like to just come here and read." Daniel looked at her for a minute, feeling his heart beat slightly faster. Betty's stomach was in knots, but she was trying to ignore it. "Umm, so, Daniel…what are you doing here?" she asked again.

"Betty, I told you. I just wanted to see if you were ok." The waiter came up to him to take their order. "Just a coffee for me and tea for Betty, chamomile with some honey... Thank you." The waiter walked off to get their drinks. Betty smiled when he knew what tea she liked.

"Thank you. I mean for the tea." She smiled.

"So, Betty. How's Tucson? Do you…um…like it here?" he asked curiously trying to figure out what was going on in her life here. "It's fine. I do like it. Especially the mountains, but…"

"…but?" he asked curiously.

"…I miss New York." Betty said simply.

"Well Betty, I'm sure New York misses you. So, the feelings' mutual." He laughed. "Thanks" she laughed.

"So, uh…what have you been doing to keep yourself busy? Do you have a job yet?" he asked curiously just wanting to know as much as possible. "Actually I've been reading a lot… here actually… and I kind of go to the mountains a lot…pretty much every day. I don't have a job yet, but I actually found a listing for a job at a Magazine. I have an interview, tomorrow actually." The waiter arrived with the coffee and tea.

"Wow, that's great Betty. I'm sure you'll get the job. What's the job? Like what will you be doing?" Betty blew on the tea, cooling it down a bit and took a sip.

"Well, this is kind of for planning this charity event, but I'm hoping that I can just get my foot in the door and move on from there."

"That sounds promising. If you need a recommendation I'm all yours, Betty. Just say the word." He drank some of the coffee.

"Thank you, Daniel." She smiled at him. "I'm really excited for you, Betty." he said sincerely.

"Thanks. I'm kind of excited too, but nervous, you know?" She drank more of the tea.

"I know Betty, but you'll be great. So, you uh…spend a lot of time in the mountains, huh?"

"Yes, you should see it Daniel. It's so beautiful from up there. It reminds me of New York... and the bridge."

"What ever happened to that, Betty? I thought you would call me to meet you on the bridge." Daniel said with a somewhat saddened tone.

"I don't know. I just haven't gone to the bridge since then. I miss it though. When I come to New York, you and I will make a trip there, how about that?" she said smiling at him. "Deal, Betty. I'd love that." He said smiling. "…and you're going to have to show me the mountains, Betty." he added. "That'd be great, Daniel! I love it up there!" Betty said happily. He could see that she really did love it at the mountains. He loved how her eyes sparkled talking about it.

"How about we take a walk, Betty?" he asked touching her hand lightly as it was on the cup. She looked at her hand and then back at him "okay" she said smiling. "You barely drank your coffee." She looked at the cup that was practically full. "Actually, I kind of said that I wanted coffee as an excuse to talk to you, Betty." he grinned at her, making her roll her eyes and smile at him. "Let's go." She said getting up. Daniel got up, placing some money on the table and opening the door for Betty. "After you" he said sweetly.

Betty laughed "Why, thank you, Daniel." He walked over next to her, "so which way Betty?" Just when he asked an elderly couple walked up and Daniel opened the door for them, his smile so bright it made the elderly couple smile as they walked in. Right when Daniel closed the door, Betty hugged him hard. "Wa-oww Betty." Daniel said as he slightly fell backward from the rather impactful hug. "I'm sorry. I just…I missed you, Daniel…I, uh…I'm sorry." Betty said, blushing as she pulled back.

"It's fine, Betty. That was a great hug." He smiled at her, which sent butterflies through her.

"I'm really glad you're here Daniel. I didn't hug you initially, because…well, I thought you weren't real. I thought I was dreaming."

"I thought I was dreaming when I first saw you, too, Betty. You look really nice, by the way. You look great in jeans" Betty blushed slightly, as Daniel kind of checked her out. "Thank you…um so, do you want to come, see the house? I mean since you're here. How long are you staying Daniel?" she asked curiously, hoping he was staying a while.

"Umm…actually, I've never been here before, so I was thinking maybe I could stay for a week or two, maybe you could show me around. Is that ok with you Betty?" he asked trying to read her face. He didn't want her to think he was suffocating her, but he wanted to spend as much time as he could with her. "I would love that, Daniel." Betty smiled brightly. Daniel couldn't help but smile back. "Great Betty"

"So, let me show you the house?"

"Would umm…uh…he be ok with that, Betty?" Daniel asked cautiously. He didn't want to get in the way of anything. "He? Meaning Henry? Why can't you say his name Daniel? You never say it. Anyway, he'll be fine. He's at work until 8 tonight. Oh we are actually going dancing tonight, so you should come, Daniel. Where will you be staying Daniel? Isn't a hotel kind of expensive? Never mind you're rich. Is there anyone to take care of MODE? Two weeks is a while, but I'm glad you're staying that long." Betty rambled. All the sudden, Daniel started laughing hysterically. Betty looked at him confused. "Why are you laughing, Daniel?"

"Betty! You're so cute. Relax, ok? Everything's fine." Did he just call her cute? "To answer all your questions, I can't say his name because well I'm not going to tell you why at the moment. I guess I might be able to go with you tonight, we'll see about that. And ya, I'm staying at a hotel, and yes, I'm rich so I can afford it. And as for MODE, Alexis is taking care of that. I already let her know I was going to be away for two weeks. And I'm glad I'm here, too, Betty." He laughed then smiled at her. Betty ended up laughing too.

After about a few minutes of walking Betty looked at Daniel and realized how extremely happy she was that he was there. He looked at her curiously. "What are you looking at me like that for Betty?" he shot her a flirting grin. She couldn't contain her happiness, she jumped up and hugged him again "I'm just really happy you're here, Daniel." She said sincerely.

"How did you get here so fast? I know you must be tired. I know you were at my house yesterday. So what? Did you take a flight as soon as dinner was over or something?"

He smiled "Actually, Betty I did get a flight as soon as dinner was over. I _am_ tired, but you kind of made me forget that I was." Betty smiled at him. "I'm kind of sad, though, Betty." Betty looked at him confused. "Why Daniel?" she asked concerned.

"Well, you knew I was at your house, but you didn't ask to talk to me. Why was that, Betty? And I know you lied to Hilda telling her that you were going to call me. I kind of felt bad about that Betty" She looked at him, how did he know her so well? She thought.

"By the way, thanks for the hug" he said hugging her. Betty looked at him slightly upset. Not upset with him, but at the way she acted. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I uhh…I had to go meet with uh…" she couldn't do it. She couldn't lie to Daniel. "I can't lie to you, I actually, I was kind of surprised you were at my house. I kind of panicked when Hilda told me you've been there. And I just thought if I talked to you, I would start…umm…never mind"

"What, Betty?" he asked in wonder. "I thought I would start crying again, or say something stupid, so I just thought I'd talk to you later. But you're right; I don't think I would have called you soon after that. It would have taken me a while. I'm sorry, Daniel."

Daniel smiled slightly. "It's ok Betty. Let's just make the most of these two weeks to last a while until you come to New York and we have our date." Betty looked at him with wide eyes. "I mean, you know, the bridge."

"Right." She smiled. She didn't know why she was so shocked he said date, it was a date, even back then it kind of was, but Daniel never said it before, so this was weird. She didn't care, she was just really happy Daniel was there for two weeks.

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AN: Hope you like it! :) I love them! hehe


	4. I'm Not Leaving Your Side

**Think of The Firefly**

**_Thank you for your wonderful reviews! :) You all are so smart! lol :P Hope you like this part! _**

**_For entertainment only! :P_**

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**Chapter 4**

**I'm Not Leaving Your Side**

Something Betty said made Daniel worry. "Wait, Betty. You said you didn't want to start crying again, have you been crying a lot?" he asked as Betty was walking ahead of him.

Betty looked back at him surprised. "What? Why would you…um… why would you ask that?" she said nervously walking backward.

"Well. I don't know, Betty. You just said something about crying. I was just checking. I hope everything's ok."

She turned around "ok. We're here!" Betty said cheerily running up to the house, trying to change the subject. Daniel was not going to let this slide easily, but went along with it for a while. "Wow, this is…nice, Betty." he said as he looked at the house in front of them. It wasn't big, but it was nice. The outside was carved to look like part of the mountains. It had beautiful brickwork. He smiled when he noticed the window on the second floor with Betty's bunny. That must be Betty's room, he thought.

"Come on, let's go! I want to show you my room." Betty said excitedly grabbing Daniel's hand. She quickly opened the door and led Daniel upstairs to her room. Daniel stood in the room, trying to figure out why it felt so…strange. "What's wrong, Daniel? Why do you have that face?" Daniel laughed "what face?"

"_That_ face" Betty said accusingly. "Betty." Daniel laughed. "it's just…this room is kind of…boring. It doesn't seem like you. In fact, the only thing that is you… is well...you…" he laughed "…and your bunny by the window." Betty looked at him confused. "Well, Daniel I just moved here…I haven't really had time to umm…redecorate or whatever. Besides, I just like it for the view. Come see" she said grabbing his hand and having him stand in front of the window.

Daniel looked out the window and smiled. "Isn't it beautiful?" Betty asked happily. Daniel looked at Betty look out the window, her eyes bright. "It is" he said simply.

"Daniel…" Betty said without looking at him "Why are you staring at me?"

"I just like your smile, Betty" Betty looked at him and smiled. Nervously she added, "I can't wait to show you the mountains. …But later…when it gets dark… That's when it's the most beautiful." She said excitedly.

"Great. I'm looking forward to it, Betty." he smiled.

After a few seconds of silence Daniel randomly asked "Are you sure it isn't something else, Betty?" Betty looked at him strangely. "What's that supposed to mean, Daniel?"

"Like, maybe you don't really want to be here. The reason why you haven't done anything to your room and why you go to the mountains every night…looking out to the city" Betty couldn't believe it. How the heck did Daniel know that… and why was he saying all this? Was he trying to say she wasn't happy here?

"Daniel, can you just stop." Betty said stressed.

"Stop what?" he asked confused.

"Whatever it is that you're trying to do. I like it here, okay? End of story." Betty said slightly annoyed.

"Fine, Betty. I was just worried about you. Even Hilda kind of said something."

"What? What did Hilda say?" Betty asked slightly frustrated.

"Well, I think she was worried about you. When she got off the phone she said she felt like you were hiding something. Like something was bothering you."

"What? No, I just um, miss everyone that's all."

"Betty. I know you. You can't lie to me. Tell me, what's up? Is everything ok here?"

Betty sighed. "Daniel. Please can we just sit and talk. I just want to hear about you."

"Well Betty, there's nothing new on my end, so I want to know what's going on with you."

"Daniel…"

"Fine Betty, but later…and _today..._ you are going to tell me. I'm not leaving your side today until you tell me."

Betty laughed "Fine, Daniel. Geez." He looked at her and laughed.

They both went down to the kitchen to have something to eat.

"So, Betty… I'm kind of surprised." He said as he took a plate from her.

"About what?" she asked confused. "…that you let men come up to your room so quickly. Do you let a lot of men come in your room, Betty?" Daniel asked teasingly, nudging her arm. Betty laughed. "Actually, Daniel…I only let guys that I like come to my room. So, consider yourself special." They both laughed, Daniel opened the fridge to find it practically empty. "Betty, why don't you have any food in here? Don't you eat?" he asked slightly laughing, but also kind of worried. "I do, but I'm barely ever in the house, so I end up eating out."

"Then, let's go get you some food" Daniel said pulling her out the door.

They went to the supermarket a few blocks from the house to get something edible in Betty's fridge besides milk and jelly. They were now walking back to the house.

"Daniel, you are such a child. I can't believe you did that, in public!" Betty laughed.

"Why not? Come on, Betty. No one knows me here, it was nice to let loose."

"I know, but people were staring at us like we were crazy."

"Come on, Betty. You know you had fun."

Betty rolled her eyes "true."

"I think it would have been even better if we raced our carts, but then we would need someone else to race us." Daniel added.

"That one older woman came up to me after you got in the cart and told me I was just as childish as you for actually pushing you in the cart" Betty said, Daniel laughed "That woman needed to mind her business." She laughed "Well, I think it's hard when there are two adults acting like 5 year-olds riding carts in the supermarket nearly knocking over cans." They both laughed this time. "If it wasn't for the fact that we actually bought stuff, the manager would have thrown us out for sure." Betty said in recollection.

"You're probably right. I think the cashier got really mad that we were laughing so much at the check-out." Betty laughed loudly remembering their fit of giggles in the store over the pineapple they thought looked like Wilhelmina. The people they passed looked back at Betty, shaking their heads in disapproval as they walked through the outdoor café.

Daniel laughed "I think you just disturbed six more people along the way, Betty." She laughed "Daniel, we are going to have to take a picture of that pineapple and send it to Marc. He would die" Betty said laughing more. Now Daniel couldn't stop laughing.

When Betty's laughter dissipated, she looked to Daniel excitedly. "I'll race you back to the house Daniel!" Betty said excitedly. "But Betty, we're carrying so many bags. I think we would end up falling or something. How about I race you when we don't have so many things weighing us down?" Daniel said amused at Betty's sudden burst of energy. He decided he definitely liked this Betty more.

"Okay Daniel!" Betty said happily.

About a minute and a half later they reached the house and put the things they bought away.

"What time is it? Wow its 2:30 already. We were shopping for a long time." Betty said, and then laughed slightly knowing why they took so long. "Well, Betty you had nothing in your fridge." "And, I don't think it was really the shopping that held us up." He laughed opening the fridge.

"Here, let me make you something." Daniel said excitedly, opening the flour and getting out the eggs.

"What? You know how to cook?" she asked surprised.

"Well, Betty, your dad kind of taught me while I was at your house."

"Sure, I heard my dad say something about you burning the house down yesterday." Betty laughed.

"Whatever Betty, just sit back and relax, I'm going to surprise you."

"That's what I'm afraid of" she said mockingly. "Hey! You'll pay for that, Betty" Daniel said throwing some flour in her face. "Daniel!" Betty yelled in shock. "I can't believe you just did that."

Daniel laughed, but then Betty took an egg and smashed it on his head "Betty! What the hell? I only threw flour on you. How am I supposed to get this out of my hair?" Daniel said, frantically trying to keep the egg from dripping on his face. Betty laughed uncontrollably. He looked at her, her hair all messy; she took her glasses off to clean them from the flour, giving Daniel the opportunity to see her beautiful eyes. He laughed slightly at her childishness.

How he wanted to kiss her right now. "What are you looking at, Daniel?" Betty asked wondering why he looked like he was thinking about something. "Nothing, Betty, it's just you look really funny" Daniel laughed. "Ha-ha Daniel. You look funny too." Betty said picking at his hair.

"Here, let me help you clean up, Daniel." Betty started picking out the egg-shells, giggling in the process, then getting a dish towel and wiping the egg out of his hair, still giggling. "Betty! Stop laughing!" Daniel said laughing. "What?" Betty looked at him like he was weird "I can't laugh?"

"No. Every time you laugh, I can't stop laughing." Daniel said smiling. Betty smiled at him "There... now just wash your hair a little, and I think you'll be ok until you take a shower or something later." She laughed again, making Daniel laugh.

"Betty, you should thank me." Daniel said smiling at her. "For what?" she looked at him confused. "Well, for making you laugh. You seemed a little upset earlier, I'm just happy you were smiling again." She smiled. "Thank you, Daniel! I really do mean that. I'm so happy you're here. I don't think I had this much fun since I got here." Betty said happily. "Anytime Betty…I'm here to make you happy." Daniel said smiling. He looked at her for a minute, making her get nervous suddenly "Umm, Daniel, I'm getting kind of hungry."

"Oh right." Daniel said, slightly embarrassed, getting things to make for them to eat.

About an hour and a half later of Daniel trying to cook, burning lots of food in the process, they ended up making pasta and tomato sauce. "Daniel, I thought you said you learned how to cook?" Betty laughed. "Betty, I did. I just…uh…got distracted."

"…From what Daniel? We were standing here the whole time."

"Well, you were distracting me Betty."

"Me? How?"

"Come on, Betty. Let's just eat." Daniel said getting two plates from the cupboard and placing them on the table, Betty getting the forks. "Great, I'm starving." They both took a bite, rather satisfied with how it tasted. "At least between the two of us we could make something edible" Betty said with a grin "ya, that's teamwork" Daniel added smiling. They proudly ate the food they made and caught up on MODE gossip.

Daniel looked out the window, noticing the sun was now setting. "Wow, Betty, what time is it?"

"Oh, it's 6. Wow we've been talking for a long time. Daniel, let's go outside. I'll take you to the mountains."

"It'll get dark soon, and that's when the view is amazing." She added excitedly.

"Okay." Daniel said getting up. They walked out of the house and headed up the mountain nearby, Daniel eager to see this place that Betty loved and wanted to share with him.

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AN: Thanks for reading! :) Next part up soon! :P


	5. My, I Mean, Our New Special Place

**Think of The Firefly**

**_Glad you're enjoying the story so far! This chapter is a little shorter, but I promise starting next chapter they will be a lot longer! :) :) _**

**_Thanks again! Hope you like this part! :)_**

**_For entertainment only! :P_**

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**Chapter 5**

**My, I Mean, Our New Special Place**

"Welcome to my special place, Daniel." Betty said as they got to the edge overlooking the beautiful view of the city.

"Wow, this place is beautiful Betty. Thanks for sharing your special place with me, Betty" Daniel smiled

"Of course, Daniel. Actually, Henry doesn't even know about this place. So, I guess this is our special place." She said sitting down close to the edge.

"Wow, so you come here every day Betty?" Daniel said sitting next to her, surprised and happy that Betty was sharing something so special to her with him.

"Yep, I end up just sitting here for an hour or two. I just love it here. It actually reminds me of New York." She looked at him "…and our bridge." She said with a smile. "_Our_ bridge?" Daniel asked wonderingly. "Well, ya. It's our thing. I mean I've only went there with you. That was a great night." She smiled looking off at the city. "…for me, at least." She added.

"It was a great night for me, too, Betty. In fact, it is probably the best date I've ever had." Betty looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"I'm serious, Betty. I've never had such a great time with anyone on a date before."

"Date?"

"It felt like a date, even though we were kind of just two friends going out. I don't remember having so much fun with anyone before."

"What? You mean you had more fun with me than having sex with all of your gorgeous models?" Daniel's eyes got big in shock, and then focused his gaze at the city. Betty automatically regretted saying that. She looked at Daniel, his eyes filled with hurt. "I'm sorry Daniel; I didn't mean…I'm really sorry."

Daniel didn't say anything, just kept his eyes in front of him. "Are you never going to talk to me again?" Daniel's silence made Betty think that was true, she started crying. He looked at her in surprise. "Betty?" She didn't say anything, and just kept crying.

"Betty, please. I don't hate you. I am talking to you. I'm not mad at you. Please stop crying." Daniel said frantically trying to stop Betty from crying. Her tears kept coming "I don't understand why no one likes me." She said upset

Daniel looked at her confused. "Betty, what are you talking about? I do like you, Betty. I was just upset that you thought I wouldn't want to hang out with you and you thought I rather be with models than you. Please stop crying, Betty. I don't hate you, I promise."

"Daniel, I'm not crying because of you, well at first, but its other stuff too." Betty said tears still running down her face.

"So, this is about Henry?" Daniel said upset, thinking he was a complete idiot for saying all of that to Betty when she was referring to Henry. He got up and was about to walk back to the house when Betty grabbed his hand "Daniel, please don't leave me."

Daniel looked down at her "you promised you wouldn't leave until I told you" she said with sad eyes. There was no way Daniel could stay mad at her. He sat down next to her, putting his arm around her. "Talk to me, Betty."

"Henry works late every day. Every time he makes plans with me, he ends up having to go see the baby or something with Charlie. I feel like I would have talked to him more if I was still in New York. I basically come up here every night looking out into the city because I pretend I'm in New York and close to you, Hilda, Papi, Justin, and everyone. I just feel like I'm here, just not here with Henry." She paused as tears started to fall down her face. Daniel pulled back slightly, "Betty…"

"I just wish he'd spend time with me." Betty added sadly. "I know he has to work and see the baby, but I don't know…am I being selfish, Daniel?" Betty asked sadly. "What. Betty, no. I think he's the one who's being selfish. You left your family, your job, your awesome boss…" Betty smiled rolling her eyes "…your home, and your friends…" he said nudging her playfully making her laugh. "…and you came to this whole new place."

"Get up, Betty" Daniel said jumping up from the ground. She looked at him funny "what?"

"Come on, Betty. If I am supposed to leave you in two weeks, I want to at least make sure you're happy here." She looked up at him wondering what he had in mind. "Betty, we are going to make Henry see what a complete idiot he is for not spending time with you."

"But Daniel…"

"No buts Betty." Daniel kneeled down next to her "Betty, do you remember how I told you I wasn't leaving your side until you told me what was wrong?" Betty looked at him "ya?"

"Well, now I'm not leaving Tucson until I know you're happy here, okay?" he said smiling at her. Betty looked at him in amazement. She never realized how amazing a friend Daniel was to her. She smiled, "okay Daniel." Daniel stood up and held his hand out for her; she took it and asked curiously "okay, so what's the plan, Daniel?"

"Ok, what? We have two hours until Henry gets off from work. We are going to make you look amazing Betty. Don't get me wrong, Betty. You look great. Really great actually…" Daniel smiled kissing her hand admiringly, he knew that was cutting it close, but he had to. Betty blushed from his words and look of appreciation, but was surprised when Daniel kissed her hand. "…but we want to make Henry think he's a total dumbass for ignoring you, how about that?" Daniel said with a smirk. Betty rolled her eyes, "I don't want him to feel _that_ way, Daniel, but I do want him to…oh, what the heck." Betty said giving in to Daniel's plan.

"Great!" Daniel said excitedly. "I promise you, Betty, if this doesn't work, 1 Henry is a complete moron, and 2 I owe you ice cream, how about that?" he said with a smile. Betty laughed. "Sounds good, Daniel."

As Daniel and Betty headed back down the mountain to the house, Betty had a thought, "Daniel, you do know that you're helping me get a guy right? Doesn't that bother you?" Daniel looked at her in surprise.

"Umm, what do you mean Betty?" Daniel asked nervously, pulling her hand to get her down to the spot he was in now.

"I mean, this is kind of something girlfriends do, isn't this weird for you?" She said as she landed next to him.

"Well, a little Betty, but not for that reason" he said walking down the jagged path.

"Well, then why?" She asked curiously, stopping slightly.

"…For the other reason, helping you get a guy. But I want you to be happy, so I'm not going to let it bother me." Daniel stopped realizing she stopped.

"It bothers you?" Betty asked surprised. Was Daniel jealous? No way, Daniel_ Meade_ can't be jealous. …Especially because of Henry.

"No!" Daniel said adamantly, starting to walk again. Betty could tell that he was lying. She smiled and walked up to him, pulling him to her and kissing his cheek. Daniel's eyes got big in surprise "What was _that_ for, Betty?"

Betty laughed "for being jealous."

"_What?_ I'm not jealous!" Daniel said defiantly.

"Fine! For caring about me." She laughed. Daniel rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Betty… I'm not jealous. Especially of what's his face" Daniel said heading down to the house. Betty laughed. "Oh, and Daniel…"

"Hmm?" he said looking back just as he got to the foot of the house. Betty walked up to him "I _was_ crying because I made you upset. It wasn't because of Henry." Daniel smiled. "Just thought you should know" she said pulling him to her for a hug.

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AN: I'll have the next chapter up soon! :P


	6. Operation Gorgeous

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Thank you soooo much for all of your comments! :) Highly appreciated and motivating! :) From here on out the chapters WILL be a lot LONGER! yay! :) hehe **_

_**I love this chapter! :) I hope you enjoy it! **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Operation Gorgeous**

They came inside the house up to Betty's room. Daniel opened her closet "Do you have any nice clothes Betty?" he quickly added "you know, for dancing?"

"You're going to pay for that, Daniel" Betty said slapping his arm playfully.

"Betty, why don't you have any clothes? All I see are jeans and some tops?" he looked at her confused. This was so un-Betty-like, no crazy patterns, only solid colors, nothing that reminded him of Betty, except…Daniel smiled as he came across her navy-blue Minnie Mouse pajamas. "This is more like Betty" Daniel said pulling out the pajamas. Betty laughed taking them from him.

Daniel looked at her and grabbed her hand pulling her out the door. "Come on Betty, I'm going to buy you some dresses, let's go. We don't have a lot of time" he said looking at his watch. "Daniel" Betty stopped him "I can't let you do that. It's too much, please!"

"Betty, I'm not your boss anymore, nothing's ever too much in friendship." Daniel said smiling at her. Betty smiled "Fine Daniel, _but_ only two outfits" Daniel smiled "okay"

"I mean it, Daniel!" Betty said semi-scolding.

Betty and Daniel ended up at this trendy boutique with beautiful clothes. "Daniel, these clothes must be so expensive. I can't let you pay for them" Betty said anxiously. "Betty, don't worry about it. Please." He said looking at her with his puppy dog eyes.

"No fair Daniel. You know I can't say no to those eyes." Betty sighed as a grin came across his face.

"Here, let me help you, Betty." Daniel went over to the manager and asked her to bring in as many clothes as possible in Betty's size.

A few minutes later the manager brought over a rack full of clothes. "Oh my God, Daniel, you want me to try on all of these clothes? That's too much. There must be 20 outfits there" Betty looked at him like he was crazy.

"Come on, Betty. Just try them on." Betty sighed. "Fine"

Daniel smiled. Betty started to walk to the dressing room with some of the clothes the woman brought. "Betty…" Betty turned to look back at him "Are you going to show me?"

"What? You want to see them all, too?"

"Come on, Betty. I can help you choose which two to get." He said smiling. Betty looked at him shaking her head. She smiled at him "okay" and went off to try on the clothes.

They ended up having tons of fun, as Daniel pretended he was an MC describing all of the clothes Betty was trying on and Betty pretending to be a model.

She was in the last dress, a short turquoise halter dress just above the knees with silver sequins along the side, hugging Betty's curves beautifully.

"Wow Betty, you look amazing." Daniel said suddenly unable to speak. "So, uh, we have uh, this young lady, beautifully sporting this turquoise dress…with uh…and um… Betty, I really can't speak. You got me all flustered, girl." He laughed. Betty was surprised at Daniel's lack of words, realizing she did that to him. She laughed walking up to him.

"I know I'm nowhere close to being a model, but this was really fun Daniel, thank you." She said with a smile.

"I told you Betty, you're better than any model." He smiled looking at her eyes. Betty looked at him. She still couldn't believe him saying that to her. What did he mean by it? She smiled at him "Thank you, Daniel."

"Daniel, I really like this dress." Betty said excitedly. "I really like that dress too, Betty." He said looking at her body; Betty looked at him surprised. Daniel closed his eyes in embarrassment "uh, I mean..." he laughed. "Sorry, Betty"

Betty laughed. "You're so cute, Daniel" She said going back into the dressing room, leaving Daniel smiling like a crushing teenager.

Betty walked out of the fitting room with two dresses. "Here Daniel, these are the two that I liked" Betty said with a smile. "Alright Betty, I see you got the purple one. You looked really beautiful in that one, Betty." Betty blushed slightly "Thank you"

"Ok, give me a minute. Let me just talk to the manager." Just as Daniel went to talk to the manager, Betty quickly went back into the changing room to get a different dress she tried and paid for it herself telling the cashier to put it in the bag when he came over. Daniel came over with the two dresses giving them to the cashier. The cashier put the dresses in a bag, and looked at Betty and smiled. Betty smiled back knowingly. "Thank you." Betty said taking the bag from the girl.

"Have a good night" she said winking at Betty and looking at Daniel. Daniel looked at Betty, "what was that about?" he asked as they walked out.

"I actually don't know. I think she may have gotten the idea that you and I were together or something." Betty said looking up at him, biting her lip.

"Oh. Ok."

"Ok?" Betty said "Well, we were together, I guess it might look that way." Daniel said understandingly.

"Right"

Daniel and Betty got in a cab and made their way somewhere Daniel would not say. "Daniel, where are we?" Betty asked not understanding why they were in front of a hotel... a really nice one. "What are we doing here?" Betty asked curiously.

"Betty, this is the hotel I'm staying at. I made some arrangements for you."

Betty looked at him suspiciously. "What arrangements?"

"Betty… you'll see. It's a surprise, Betty." Daniel said getting out of the cab and taking Betty's hand. They walked in the hotel and Daniel went off to talk to someone. Betty looked around wondering why they were here.

"Betty…" Daniel called "come on" Betty walked over and followed Daniel to this rather large room, with gorgeous lighting and paintings on the walls. "Miss Suarez?" a woman with long dark hair in a semi-long blue dress came over greeting them "Hi" Betty responded.

"Mr. Meade has arranged some stylists for you this evening. If you come with me, please" the woman said. Betty looked at Daniel "Daniel, seriously, this is too much."

"Betty, come on. Don't worry about it. I'm staying here anyway; they're not even charging me for this." Betty looked at him skeptically not sure if she could believe that. Betty looked at the waiting woman, "Daniel, you seriously…ugh you're too nice for me to even get mad at you." Betty said rolling her eyes and walking off to the woman leading her into a different room. Daniel smiled as Betty walked in.

"Hi dear, my name's Alissa, I'll be your hair stylist this evening." A young pretty brunette with brown eyes dressed in all black said coming up to Betty. "And I will be doing your make-up, love. My name is Robert" a young rather handsome gentleman, green eyes, dark hair and a purple vest over his black shirt said following behind.

"Hi, I'm Betty." Betty smiled.

"Go-on then and get into your dress Betty." Alissa said sweetly. Betty put the dress she bought herself and walked back in shyly. Her dress was strapless; the main color being deep reddish, with a black ribbon belt around her waist; it hugged her curves until her hips, but flowed out slightly below the knees.

"Well don't you look gorgeous, dear" Alissa said admiringly. "Wow, you look stunning. Of course, you will look even more lovely when we get through with you" Robert said proudly.

"Thank you" Betty said, surprised of how nice they were.

"Come on now, have a seat" Alissa pulled a seat for Betty, and started to get her things together to do Betty's hair.

"Is that gorgeous blue-eyed man out there your boyfriend, dear?" she asked curiously.

"What? No, he's just my friend. Well, my best friend." Betty said smiling. "Why did you think that?" Betty asked curiously.

"Well, I just assumed, and the way he looks at you." She said, brushing Betty's hair.

"How does he look at me?" Betty asked in wonder.

"He looks at you like you're the most special thing in the world" Alissa said sighing dreamily.

"_What?"_ Betty responded shocked by this woman's ridiculous observation. "He doesn't look at me that way"

"Oh, yes he does" Robert responded.

"Think what you want dear, but that man definitely thinks more of you than you think." Alissa said starting to straighten her hair.

"None the less, he is a sweetie" she added admiringly. "Sure is" Robert said.

Betty just sat there in silence for a minute thinking about what they just said to her. How could they think that?

"So, what are you all dressed up for, Betty?" Alissa asked curiously.

"Oh, my boyfriend is taking me dancing tonight"

"Oo, well then, that's a nice treat."

"Ya, believe me, it is. I haven't spent any time with him since I came here."

"Oh, you moved here?"

"Yes, I'm from New York. I moved to be with Henry, my boyfriend."

"How long have you been here?"

"About a week now"

"Well welcome to Tucson love" Robert added warmly.

"Thank you"

Alissa continued straightening her hair and thought of something "So, you said that man is your best friend…"

"uh-huh, why?" Betty looked at her through the mirror trying to read her expression "You said you've only been here a week."

"Oh, well, Daniel and I worked together in New York; he was my boss. He's actually visiting me right now. He's helping me get my boyfriend to notice me with all of this" Betty hated the way that sounded and wished she didn't say it.

"Well, seems like the one out there… Daniel, you said? …notices you already"

"…and he came all the way over here to help you." Robert quickly added.

"Well he always does nice things like this for me. He bought my family a Christmas tree when he found out we couldn't afford it one year, and he actually got my family tickets to go to Mexico because my dad had to go back." Alissa and Robert looked at each other with amused smiles.

Betty sighed heavily. She set herself up for this with that comment she made about Henry. She felt bad that he now looked like the bad guy. "Henry is really sweet, too. He always remembers things that I like… look, why am I explaining my relationships to you. It's really none of your business."

"Touchy topic, huh?" Alissa said twisting the edges of Betty's hair. "We better not make this one upset or that Daniel guy might get us fired" Robert added as he put blush on Betty's face. Betty sighed.

Robert and Alissa remained silent for a while trying to finish her hair and make-up. Betty couldn't take the silence "So, are you two from England? I noticed your accent?" Betty asked curiously. "Oh, yes, we moved here a couple years ago. Robert here is my brother."

"Oh, ok. That's nice that you work together." Betty added smiling.

"Yes, we opened our own styling studio, but we work here on the side" Robert said.

"Great. I'll have to check out your studio. What's it called?"

"Dunne Styles" Robert said proudly.

"Great, I'll come to your studio sometime."

"Wonderful dear, we would love to see you." Alissa said sweetly.

Meanwhile Daniel was pacing the other room in boredom, waiting for Betty to come out. He looked at all the paintings on the walls three times each. He had enough. He hated waiting. He wished he could just be in there helping Betty. Granted, it had only been 20 minutes. It felt a lot longer to him.

He stood in front of the painting of a beautiful ocean landscape for the fourth time. He sighed for the hundredth time, it felt like.

"ehhmm" a voice called from behind. Daniel turned to see Betty smiling beautifully. Daniel's jaw dropped in shock. _Holy smokes! Was that Betty_? If it weren't for the simple fact that he couldn't take his eyes off her, he was sure he would have had a heart attack or something.

The stylists that were helping Betty laughed at Daniel's reaction to their work of art. Looking at each other, they nodded acknowledging the fact that they were right in their assumptions.

"What, why are you looking at me like that?" Betty said, suddenly nervous, thinking she looked ridiculous or something.

"Betty, you look _great_!" Daniel said making Betty smile again. "Wow" Daniel said as he walked over to her and spun her to get a good look.

"Even with the braces and glasses?" Betty asked self-consciously. "Betty yes. Of course! Even with the braces and glasses. You look beautiful, Betty." Daniel said sweetly taking her hand and kissing it, making Betty blush. "You're still way better than any model, Betty" he said with his charming smile, making Betty's heart beat furiously.

"Thank you, Daniel. I don't even know how to repay you for all of this." Betty said appreciatively.

"Just smile, Betty. That is all you have to do!" Daniel said simply, making Betty smile brighter and making the two stylists sigh in admiration. Betty suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion. She pulled Daniel to her for a hug. Was what the two stylists said true?

Daniel felt his heart pounding at his chest. He smiled as he took in her sweet scent. He moved back to admire Betty again "Betty, where did you get that dress? It's gorgeous! I don't remember seeing this one. I definitely think I would remember you in _that_." Daniel said looking at her. Betty felt her heart beat rapidly; nervously she said "Actually, uh, I didn't show you this one. I bought it myself. I wanted to surprise you…uhh…I mean, Henry." Daniel's eyes got big in surprise. He smiled at her slip of words. Betty looked at her hands nervously. Alissa and Robert noticed Betty's little slip "oo, she wants him, too" Alissa whispered, smiling. "She is in complete denial" Robert said shaking his head. "I think they both are" Alissa added smiling.

"Oh crap Betty, what time is it?" Daniel said looking at his watch remembering their time limit. "Come on Betty; let's go before you're late!" Daniel said grabbing her hand "Daniel, wait" Betty said stopping and walking over to the stylists. "Thank you so much" Betty said hugging them. "Don't thank us, love" Robert said nodding towards Daniel.

"Ok, bye!" Betty said thankfully.

"Wait just one moment; we can't have your friend here looking like this when you're looking so lovely." Robert said grabbing Daniel and pulling him into the room. Betty laughed looking at Alissa. "So, do you believe us now, Betty?" Alissa said leaning next to her slightly. Betty just looked at her not responding. Two minutes later Robert brought Daniel out wearing a nice black shirt, with a red tie to match Betty's dress and black pants. "Now, isn't that better?"

"You look great! I agree you look better" Betty said approaching him laughing a little. "Well, Betty, I wasn't the one going dancing, but I guess I looked really terrible to even be seen with you before." Daniel said with a grin making Betty laugh. "Ok, we should really go, Betty." Daniel said grabbing her things. "Ok, thank you two. I'll give you a good reference." Daniel said and they started walking off.

"Have a good night you two!" Robert and Alissa said as they left.

"Think those two will realize they love each other?" Alissa asked hopefully. "In time, I'm sure!" Robert said hopeful. They both sighed in endearment, thinking they were both too sweet.

"Daniel, slow down, we still have 20 minutes" Betty said laughing as she and Daniel ran out of the hotel.

"But Betty, your house is on the other side of the city. My hotel is far from where you live."

"Oh"

They got in a cab and headed for Casa de Betty.

Daniel sat next to Betty facing her so he could look at her. "Daniel?" Betty asked still looking in front of her.

"Betty?"

"Are you going to stare at me the whole way there?" she laughed, now looking at him, butterflies everywhere.

"I'm sorry, Betty. Its' just uh…you look…I wanted to…Seriously Betty, that dress is stunning, and so are you. I can't believe you were hiding all that beauty all these years." He laughed slightly.

"Why are you laughing?" Betty asked suddenly self-conscious.

"Betty, I can't seem to speak properly when I'm near you. I guess it's a good thing, well sort of, that you were hiding all of that, or else I would have gotten nothing done."

Betty could have said something in regards to all those women he drooled over, but decided this was not the time, especially after everything Daniel did for her. She just looked at him and smiled.

"Daniel, how were you able to do all this in such short time?"

"Betty, what can I say…it's magic."

"Uh-huh, sure Mr. Magician, so do you think your plan will actually work?"

"Betty, I hate to tell you this, but you don't even need all this to be noticed Betty. I know…for me at least, in a room full of people, I could spot you."

"That's because I looked like a joke."

"That's not true, Betty. It's your energy."

"What do you mean?"

"You just have this contagious energy that changes people…for the better."

Betty smiled. "Thank you, Daniel. That's really sweet. So, does that mean it's a yes…or a no?" Betty laughed. Daniel smiled "I honestly don't know, Betty. I guess we'll find out soon, right? I do know that he would have to be an idiot not to notice you in this beautiful dress, but even besides that Betty, if you're important to him, he would notice you either way." Daniel said bluntly.

Betty was somewhat surprised of how sweet Daniel was. She put her hand on his arm "Thank you" She said sincerely. Daniel felt his heart race at her touch. He smiled.

They finally made it to the house. "Yes, I win!" Betty said happily as they raced from where the cab dropped them off. "I have no idea how you won, Betty. I thought you were clumsy."

"Hey-ey …that's mean. You're just mad that I won." Betty laughed. Daniel rolled his eyes "sure, Betty"

Betty laughed, when her phone started ringing. Just as she answered it, Daniel threw a leaf at her making her laugh. Betty shook her head and smiled answering the phone.

* * *

AN: Reviews are smiles! :) hehe Thanks! :)


	7. Not Like We Planned

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Thank you all so much for your reviews and such! :P Hope you continue to enjoy it! **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Not Like We Planned **

"Hello? Oh, hi Henry!" Betty said excitedly answering the phone.

"Oh, you are?" Betty said slightly less excited. "No, that's ok. 20 minutes? Oh ok. I'll see you soon." Betty said and hung up. Daniel looked at her "What happened?"

"Henry's going to be a little late."

"But he's still coming right?" Daniel said trying to bring back the positivity.

"Yes" she said plainly looking at him.

"Don't worry, Betty." Daniel looked at her knowing she was feeling bad. She started to walk "Betty, where are you going?"

"Let's go to the top of the mountain, Daniel."

Daniel followed, trying to keep up with Betty. He didn't know how she was able to walk up with that dress, but she was a pro. She wasn't kidding when she said she went there every day. When they finally reached the top Daniel came up to her "are you ok, Betty?"

"I'm fine." She said looking off in the distance.

"I'm sorry Betty. He's still coming. Don't get upset yet."

"Daniel, something is going to change our plans. It's not about him being late. It's about what will happen once he gets home. I know Charlie is going to call and ruin things. She always does." Betty said upset, tears starting to form in her eyes. Daniel and Betty sat close to the edge, Daniel's arm around Betty hugging her to him.

"Betty…" Daniel sighed; there was nothing he could say. They just sat there for a while in silence.

15 minutes later a ringing interrupted the silence of the starry night. Daniel looked at Betty, "Betty, your phone" her eyes were closed, and then she opened them slowly and took a deep breath. She pulled out the phone and answered "hello?"

"Betty! Where are you? I just got here. Are you ok?" Henry's voice trailed from the phone.

"I'm fine. I'll be there soon. I just took a short walk. Bye" She hung up quickly, not really wanting to talk.

"Are you ok?" Daniel said looking at her. "I'm fine. I guess I should go."

"Betty, relax! I'm sure everything will be fine!" Daniel shot her a bright positive smile, she couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Daniel." She got up and started to walk down.

"Oh and Betty…" Betty stopped to look at him "Don't give it up so easily. Make him work for it!" Betty's eyes got big in shock "_DANIEL!_ I cannot believe you just said that!" Betty said smiling, but still shocked.

"What? Why not Betty? You look amazing."

"Well, thank you Daniel. I appreciate that, um, and the protectiveness, I guess." She laughed. "I still can't believe you said that." Daniel laughed.

"…besides Betty, isn't that what girlfriends say or something?" he asked not really sure if he wanted to know. Betty looked at him for a moment "Hmm…I don't know. I guess Christina... actually that's a horrible example. She would say a lot of things and that is _not_ one of them." Betty laughed missing Christina. "…and Amanda, I'm sure you know about that better than I do."

"I've got nothing." Betty said giving up at her female counterparts. Daniel looked at her "Your friends are a bad influence, Betty."

"Oh really, so does that mean I should stop hanging out with you, Daniel?" Betty asked teasingly.

"Everyone but me, Betty." he said making Betty laugh. Daniel smiled as Betty walked back down.

"Betty! Where were you?" Henry said as soon as Betty walked in the door. He stopped for a minute "Wow, you look great Betty" Henry said once he noticed Betty looking lovely. He walked over to her and kissed her cheek. "Thank you. I was walking outside."

"Betty, you shouldn't wonder off like that at night. I was worried about you." Betty wanted to laugh, thinking she did this every night and he didn't even know because he wasn't here. "I'm fine, Henry."

"You shouldn't walk around alone at night, especially looking like that." He smiled looking at her. "Well, I actually wasn't alone."

Henry looked at her curiously. "You will never guess who's here, Henry?" Betty said with a wide smile. "Who is it, Betty?"

"Daniel!" Betty said happily. Henry looked puzzled for a second. "Meade?" he added curiously. Betty laughed. "Yes, Daniel Meade, he came to visit. He just got in today. He's actually outside." Betty got out her phone and called Daniel.

A minute later Daniel walked in, "Hey Betty" Daniel said as he stood at the door. Betty smiled at him.

"Hey Daniel, so you just got in today?" Henry asked walking toward him.

"This morning"

"Well, it's nice to have you here. Do you have a place to stay?"

"I do, I'm staying at a hotel on the other side of the city." Henry smiled "So, are you joining us?"

"What?" Daniel asked confused "Oh, no, no, I was just dropping Betty home." He added realizing what he was talking about. Suddenly, Henry got a call. He really didn't want to answer the phone. He looked at Betty knowing if he answered it would be upsetting to both of them.

Betty sighed "Just answer it."

"Are you sure Betty?"

Betty sighed "What if it's important?"

Henry sighed. Daniel looked at both of them, knowing this was how things were for Betty. She was excited and happy that they were going to spend time together and then something would happen that got in the way upsetting her.

Henry sighed again and answered the phone "What?" he asked annoyed "huh? Ugh…are you sure? Yes, I do have plans. Yes, with Betty. No, I can't change them. Why? No. What? Is he coughing? He has a fever?"

Daniel looked at Betty, with tears forming in her eyes, knowing that as soon as coughing and fever were mentioned that was it for their plans. "Can't you just get your mother to get the medicine? I bought medicine two days ago. No, I don't want to come over. Ugh, bye"

Henry walked up to Betty, "Come on, Betty. I'm not going to let Charlie mess up our plans. Let's go." A tear came down her face "Henry, I can't let you do that. Your son is sick. You should go. I'll be fine." Henry looked at her and kissed her. "I'm sorry, Betty. I know how much you wanted to go dancing." Henry sighed and then got an idea. "Hey, Betty, why don't you go with Daniel?" Both Betty and Daniel looked at Henry like he was crazy. "What, no Henry."

"Come on, Betty. I can't let you waste the beautiful dress and you looking so wonderful tonight just sitting at home. You should go with Daniel, besides he's visiting you, so go spend some time with him."

Betty looked at Henry smiling, and then to Daniel "It's up to you, Betty. I'll go with you if you want to. I agree with him that you shouldn't waste your appearance on staying home."

"Henry, are you sure?" Betty asked looking at him.

"Come on, Betty. I want you to enjoy yourself. Maybe, if you're both still there I can join you." Betty smiled "Okay."

"I love you, Betty. I promise I'll make this up to you. You look beautiful, by the way." Henry said kissing Betty. Betty smiled "Thank you, Henry. Daniel actually helped me with all of this."

Henry smiled. "Well, you two have a good time okay? I'll see you later, Betty."

Henry left taking the car. "Hey Betty, do you want to walk there?" Daniel asked.

"Sure." Betty said smiling. They started walking. "Betty?"

"Yes?"

"Uh...do you know where we're going?"

Betty laughed. "Umm...not really...I heard about this place when I was at the bookstore a few days ago that we could try and go to. I hear it's really nice, and that they have live music and the building is really pretty with lights decorating it and a nice view."

"Sounds nice to me... Just lead the way." Daniel said smiling at her.

They end up finding the club, if they could call it that; it was a lot fancier than a club, but lively enough to be considered a club.

Once they got inside they looked around. There were people dancing and having fun, the musicians playing some fiery Latin music, the lights changing colors to match it. "Wow, this place is so amazing."

"This is pretty cool, Betty."

"So, aren't you glad Alissa and Robert made you dress up?" Betty said leaning next to him. "I guess." Daniel looked at Betty watch the people dancing. "Do you want to dance, Betty?" She looked at him "uh, I don't know..."

"Come on, Betty" Daniel said putting out his hand for her. She looked at his hand and then back to him. He smiled. She rolled her eyes and smiled taking his hand. He walked her over to where the dancing people were. "So, Betty...now you can finally finish that dance lesson in person." He said making Betty laugh remembering that. She took his hand and started showing him how to move his feet. "I hated Sofia for what she did to you" Betty said in remembrance now bringing his hand to her back. "Betty, I don't want to talk about her."

"I'm sorry, Daniel" Betty said apologetically stopping. "No Betty, I just meant...she's not important. I just don't want to think about her. I'm only thinking about you right now."

"Oh. Ok" She looked at his eyes and smiled. They danced for a while, "You're getting a lot better"

"Thanks. It helps to have someone show you in person rather than on the phone." He laughed. "True." They both danced for a little longer, Betty having fun teaching Daniel and even more fun when he started getting better.

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AN: As I'm sure you already knew this was going to happen. hahah :P I'll have the next part of their 'date' sometime tonight! :) p.s. the next chapter is one of my favorites! :) :) :)


	8. Ripples, Sprinkles and Tingles

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Again, thank you for your reviews! :) Here is the next part of their 'date' yay! :) like I said, this is one of my fave chaps so hope you enjoy it! :)**_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Ripples, Sprinkles and Tingles**

After half an hour of them dancing, Daniel decided to go outside to get some fresh air. "How about we step outside Betty?" "Ok. It's getting really loud in here anyways." They walked out the back to the patio that was overlooking a pool carved into the stone. The balcony was decorated in lights that reflected in the pool. "This is so pretty!" Betty said excitedly. Daniel laughed. "This is really nice, Betty. Nice choice." Daniel walked halfway down the steps when he saw Betty stand at the edge of the balcony looking over the city. He couldn't explain how lovely she looked from the glow of the lights. She looked at him and smiled. He smiled at her, and leaned along the wooden rail of the staircase. They somewhat just looked at each other for a few moments. Betty looked back to the city an almost shy smile on her face. Daniel just watched her thinking she was the most beautiful thing in the world. She walked over to the stairs; Daniel turned and walked down before she did, a smile making its way along his face.

They sat for some time along the edge of the pool just looking out into the city. Betty looked up to look at the stars and the moon. "The stars are so bright" Daniel watched her look at the stars, thinking she looked so beautiful from the glow of the moon and the reflection from the water. It wasn't just how she looked that made her beautiful; Daniel realized it was her light, her inner shine. Betty looked at him with a smile. "So?"

He looked at her eyes "So?"

Betty laughed. "This is kind of nice. Just sitting around looking at the stars." Daniel smiled. "I agree, it is Betty."

"I guess that is another thing that I like about Tucson. Being able to see the stars at night" Daniel nodded looking at her. He looked at her for a minute, and then remained quiet taking in the night air. He ran his hand through the water relishing its coolness, observing how the water flowed through his hand and the shine from the moon reflecting. Betty watched him, how his hand glided along the water, how it dripped from his hand, and the ripples they created. Then she looked at his face, he seemed so calm. His eyes clear and blue; they looked like the water. She smiled. She was happy that he was here with her, even just being in this silence. Daniel noticed that she was watching him and noticed her smile. He couldn't help the light smile that came across his face. He loved her smile. He didn't even have to look her way to see it. He wondered what she was thinking. He really loved this: the silence, the simple act of sitting next to one another. How they never just did this when they worked together Daniel regretted. But no, there were no regrets with Betty in his life. Everything was better just because she was there. Now she was far enough away that he would miss all this. He wished they could do this more. Suddenly Daniel felt her touch on his arm that instantly made his heart beat faster. He stopped his hand from gliding along the water and looked at her, her eyes bright even through her glasses. He wished he could take them off to see them more clearly. She had beautiful eyes. "Daniel..."

"Hmm?" he responded quietly. "What are you thinking about?" Betty asked curiously. Daniel smiled, noticing her hand still lightly on his arm. He placed his other hand on hers and looked at her "I was actually wondering what you were thinking Betty." Betty smiled. "I guess we were kind of thinking the same thing. Sort of..." he added.

"You look really calm." Betty said observantly. "Well I am. I like this. Just us...Sitting like this. It's nice." Betty smiled. "I agree. We should do this more." Betty said running her free hand through the water now. Daniel felt his heart race. How he loved being next to Betty. It wasn't anything big. It was so simple that it was perfect. He had never done something like this. Just sitting in peace and taking in your surroundings for more than what they were. He saw Betty. He knew her. She knew him. Like no one ever knew him. That in itself was perfect. Daniel slowly moved his hand from hers, so slow he even felt the coolness that ran in between their hands. Betty felt butterflies run through her from his soft touch. He leaned back his arms behind him. Now Daniel watched her hand run through the water. It was so playful; she ran her finger in a circular motion. It looked like she was trying to write in the water. He smiled. She looked at him and smiled. He smiled back. He saw something in her eyes. It was a glint of something he wasn't sure. It was like she was planning something in her mind. Then all the sudden she waved her hand through the water splashing him. Daniel gasped from the cool water hitting his face. "Betty!" he then just smiled and leaned forward. "I knew you were planning something" he said, his voice low.

"Oh really? They why didn't you stop me?" Betty asked mischievously. "Eh...I wanted to see what you were going to do."

Betty laughed lightly making Daniel smile. He just watched her as she continued to play with the water. He wanted to hug her. He just wanted her to know that he cared about her. "Betty...can I um...ask you something?" he asked still watching her hand. "Mhm" she said looking at him, her hand still gliding along the water. "Can I hug you?" he asked sweetly. Betty looked at him surprised that he would ask. "Okay" she responded. Daniel smiled and leaned over hugging her briefly, when he was about to pull away he felt Betty's arms encircle him and hug him back to her.

"Thank you" Betty said when she pulled back. "For what?" Daniel asked confused. "I should thank you, Betty." he looked at her confusion written on his face. "Daniel...you're so sweet. I know you wanted to hug me to let me know you care about me."

"What? How...how did you? What?" he asked surprised and confused and amazed at how Betty knew exactly what he was thinking? Betty laughed "I saw it in your eyes." He looked at her in amazement and then smiled. "You, Miss Suarez, are unbelievable."

"I know." Betty said playfully looking away. Daniel laughed. "Now Betty, as much as this is amazing just sitting here with you like this, do you want to get some dinner and maybe ice cream after?" he said with a grin. "That sounds great. I'm really hungry, too. And I'm always up for ice cream" Betty said smiling. Daniel laughed. "Great" he got up and held out his hand for her and helped her up.

They got in a cab and told the driver to take them to a place to eat. They ended up at a pizzeria. When they got in and sat at a table people watched them. "Why are people staring at us, Daniel?" Betty whispered. "Do you think they recognize you or something?"

"Betty...it's because you look gorgeous." He said simply, taking Betty by surprise. "Umm...uh..." she was speechless. "We both are really dressed up. They're probably all wondering why we are at some not-so fancy pizzeria." Betty just smiled. She was still stunned by the fact that Daniel said she was gorgeous. She had never had someone call her gorgeous other than Alissa and Robert today. Now Daniel. It was...interesting. She still couldn't believe it.

"Betty, are you okay?" Daniel asked noticing her distant expression. "Oh. Uh. I'm fine. It's just weird. I guess."

"Don't worry about it, Betty. Just ignore them and they will stop looking here." Daniel said nonchalantly. They got their pizza and wine. "This kind of reminds me of our date in New York" Betty said taking a sip from her wine. Daniel laughed. "Ya, it's too bad they don't do karaoke here."

Betty laughed. "That was fun. Admit it, you had fun."

"I did." Daniel said smiling. "So, Betty, are you excited about your interview tomorrow? What time is it at?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Oh. Uh, actually... You know, I almost forgot about it. You've been keeping me busy all day, I would have not even remembered if you didn't tell me right now." Betty laughed. "Sorry I was such a distraction" Daniel said lightheartedly. "It's fine, Daniel. It's been great. I needed this. Today has been so great. I am excited. I guess. I'm more nervous though. I have to be there by 1:00pm."

"Don't worry, Betty. I'm sure you'll get it as soon as you walk in the door." Daniel said optimistically. "Daniel..." She rolled her eyes.

His eyes lit up, "Do you want me to come pick you up and we can go together?"

Now Betty's eyes lit up, "Would you? I would love that Daniel."

"Absolutely Betty. I'm here and have nothing better to do. And besides I'm sure you could use a familiar face to ease your nerves."

"Thank you Daniel." Betty smiled. They both ate their pizza just talking and telling jokes. After dinner they went to an ice cream shop close by. "I can't believe everything is closed. I'm glad this place was open" Betty said surprised that places closed so early here. "It's kind of weird that there is nothing open now. I mean it's only midnight." Daniel added.

"So, what ice cream do you want, Betty?" Daniel asked looking down at her noticing her beautiful eyes scanning the flavors. She was so cute. He didn't know why all the sudden he found her so adorable. Maybe it was the fact that she was in this absolutely stunning dress and getting an ice cream cone. It made him feel like everything inside him was smiling. He just wanted to hold her and never let her go. He loved how genuine she was. Betty looked up at him smiling brightly "I think I will try the Tiger Tracks ice cream" Daniel smiled and looked at the description "that sounds pretty good. Vanilla and Orange with Chocolate swirl" Daniel ordered two. "Can I have sprinkles on mine" Daniel said to the 'Creamer'. Betty looked at him and nudged him playfully. "Sprinkles Mr. Meade?" she said teasingly. "Hey, I can be a kid too." Daniel said laughing and taking the two cones in his hand. "For you" he said holding out the ice cream to her. "Thanks Daniel." She laughed taking it from him. "Mmm... this is so yummy" Betty said happily. Daniel smiled and ate his. "How are the sprinkles?" Betty asked jokingly. "Good, wanna try?" he said holding the cone out to her. "Nahh..."

"Ok." They both had their ice cream and started walking back to Betty's house. "Daniel...I'm tired. Can we sit for a bit?"

"Betty, we're not that far. Come on"

"Daniel, my feet hurt. I don't think I can walk anymore." Daniel looked at her and picked her up "Daniel! Put me down" she said trying to get her feet back down. "Betty, I'll carry you." He said looking at her. Betty just laughed. "You're so crazy" she said slapping his shoulder. She put her arm around his neck. "You better not drop me."

"I will never drop you, Betty." Daniel said looking at her. She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Aren't I heavy? I don't want to hurt you."

"Betty! Don't worry. And believe me, you're not heavy." Betty just smiled and looked at him. They made it to the house 4 minutes later. "Are you sure you want me to put you down Betty? I kind of like you holding on to me." He said teasingly, but actually serious. "Daniel. Put me down." Betty said bluntly. "Alright, alright." He slowly let her loose. "You're free now Princess Suarez." He said mockingly. "Ha-ha, very funny. Thank you, Daniel. This was a lot of fun." She said sincerely.

"It really was. Well, I guess good night Betty" Daniel leaned in and kissed Betty sweetly on her cheek. His lips touched her skin so lightly that it sent butterflies through her. It felt like wind blew across her face. "I had to kiss my date good night." Daniel whispered in her ear making Betty feel shivers down her spine.

When he pulled away to look at her, she looked at him not sure if she just imagined that. It felt so...it felt like she was dreaming. She didn't even know how she was standing. She felt like she was floating. She smiled "So, this was a date?" Betty asked curiously.

"It felt like a date. We went dancing, we had dinner...and ice cream...and you look gorgeous...and I walked you home...well, carried you to your door..." he laughed. "If that isn't a date then I really don't know what is." She had a look on her face that Daniel instantly understood.

"I know what you're thinking; we haven't had sex, so this can't be a date to me. Well you're wrong Betty. I don't have to have sex to consider going out with someone a date." He said taking Betty by surprise, her eyes wide. "Umm...I...uh...how did you?" Betty was stunned that he knew what she was thinking. She just smiled. "Betty, I know you. You're my best friend. We worked together for two years. We pretty much saw each other every day. We just get each other. So, yes, I knew what you were thinking." He responded surprising Betty, yet again.

"Well, umm...thank you Daniel...for the nice _date_." Betty said slightly teasingly. "I really did have a good time." She touched his arm and reached up to kiss his cheek. Daniel smiled. He never felt so at home before. He felt the tingles in his cheek. It was so soft. "Good night Daniel."

"Good night Betty. Sweet dreams." Betty walked in her house a smile on her face. Daniel called a cab and headed to his hotel. "That was definitely the best date ever. Today was amazing. God, I love Betty." Daniel smiled getting into the cab.

"I can't believe Daniel Meade said I was gorgeous and kissed me." Betty said to herself walking up to her room. She knew he meant it and wasn't just saying it. She knew Henry thought she was beautiful and said it to her all the time, but coming from Daniel was...different. She thought it was cute that he was trying to say it discreetly. She smiled looking into her mirror. She touched her cheek. Betty went to sleep feeling really nice and not really concerned that Henry couldn't make it. She had a wonderful time anyways.

Daniel made it to his hotel 15 minutes later since it was so late and no one was on the streets. He walked in his room and felt happy. He touched his cheek still feeling the warmth of her touch. "I love Betty!"

* * *

AN: :) :) smiles!


	9. Interview With Mr Who?

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Here is the next chapter! :)**_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Interview with Mr. Who?**

Betty woke up to see her room decorated in flowers. "Wow"

"Good morning, Betty." Henry said sweetly.

"Henry, wow this is so beautiful. You did this?" she smiled. "I'm really sorry I couldn't go dancing with you Betty. I really want to make it up to you."

"I also made your favorite breakfast. And Betty, I wanted to tell you, you looked so beautiful last night, but I just wanted to know why you did all of that?" he asked curiously.

"Well, it was kind of Daniel's idea. I wanted to spend time with you, and I just wanted you to notice me, I guess."

"I'm sorry I haven't spent a lot of time with you, Betty. It's not fair to you. I want you to know that you don't have to change for me Betty. I love you just the way you are."

"Thank you, Henry" Betty hugged Henry and kissed him. They ended up spending the morning together, with Henry leaving for work later than usual. There was a knock on Betty's door. "I'm coming!" Betty said coming down the stairs. Daniel smiled. Betty opened the door "Good morning Betty."

"Hi Daniel!" Betty said cheerily.

"You're in an extra good mood today. Any reason why?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Henry and I had a really good morning." Betty said happily.

"Oh ya?" Daniel said wondering what they did.

"Mhm, he decorated my entire room in beautiful flowers and he made me breakfast and um...today was the first time we...uh...were together since New York." Betty said embarrassed.

Daniel looked at her confused. Betty gave him a funny look that made him realize what she was talking about "Ohhh." Daniel suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Ok way too much information there, Betty. There should be a limit to this whole girlfriend thing. I'm not really a fan of knowing all this stuff."

Betty laughed. "Sorry. But talk about too much information Daniel, stuff about you was not really pleasant either."

"I guess you're right, Betty. But still I don't want to know this stuff about you. I feel weird"

"Okay. Fine! And now you know what it's like." Daniel rolled his eyes. "Come in, I still have some time before I have to get to my interview." Daniel walked in and Betty made him a cup of coffee.

"So, are you ready for your interview?" Daniel asked as Betty handed him the coffee. "Uh, I'm really nervous." Betty said sitting across from him. "Why? You'll do great Betty. I don't remember you being so nervous on your first day at MODE, besides running into the glass, you seemed fairly calm."

"You're kidding right? I was a nervous wreck. I felt like my heart was going to stop. And when I ran into the glass, that was so embarrassing, I wanted to hide under the desk. That was horrible." Daniel just smirked remembering the first time she came into his life. He would have never thought she would be the one person that would steal his heart. "Don't worry Betty, you'll do great!" Daniel said assuring. Betty smiled. "Thanks." The doorbell rang a minute later "Who is that?" Betty looked at Daniel strangely. "No one ever comes here."

Daniel walked to the door with Betty. He leaned next to the staircase as Betty opened the door. There was a man standing at the door with a rather large box in his hands. "A delivery for you Miss."

"Um...Thanks." Betty took the box and put it on the floor and saw a note on it. She looked at it and read "For a beautiful butterfly" Betty quickly looked to Daniel with a perceptive look. He smirked "well, why don't you open it, Betty?" Betty looked to the man who brought the box; he smiled and gestured for her to open it. Betty opened the box to see almost every dress she tried on at the boutique they went to.

She looked at Daniel. "Daniel, what is all of this? You have to take this stuff back, Daniel. I can't accept this. This is too much!" Betty said slightly angry, but still appreciative.

"Please Betty, let me just do this for you?"

"Why Daniel?"

"…because I want to make you happy, Betty."

Betty smiled at him "Daniel, I am happy…Especially because you're here. I don't need you to buy me things. You just being here has made me happy." She said appreciatively. Daniel looked at Betty with a smile.

"This is really sweet of you, Daniel, but you have to take this stuff back. It's really too much."

"Fine Betty, I'll take them back."

"Thank you." Betty looked at him and pulled him in a hug. The phone started ringing "Man, things are just busy since you came." She looked at him with a smile and went off to get the phone. Daniel talked to the man, picking a few of the dresses that he thought looked great on Betty and told him to take back the rest. "She's a stubborn one, huh?" he said taking the box from Daniel. Daniel nodded with a smirk. "Thank you for coming all the way over here."

"No problem. Want the card?" Daniel took the card and paid him. "Thanks." The man made his way, Daniel closed the door and went upstairs quickly and put the dresses on her bed and placed a note. He hurried down to the kitchen. "Hey what's going on?" he asked looking at Betty just as she hung up. "That was the secretary for the Editor in Chief of the magazine I have an interview at. They want me to come in a little sooner."

"Oh. Okay."

"Did you tell the man to take the clothes back?" Betty asked looking at him with a knowing look. Daniel rolled his eyes "Yes, Princess Suarez."

"_Daniel!_ Do you have to say that?"

"What? You don't like being called princess?"

"Not when you say it all pompous like that. You make me sound mean."

"I'm just joking with you, Betty. I promise you when I call you princess now, I won't mean it that way." Betty just smiled. "Now, let's head to your interview. You don't want to be late."

"Okay." They called a cab and headed to the building. When they got to the office they both looked at each other thinking it was so very different from MODE. "Wow, this place seems so cold compared to MODE." Betty said leaning next to Daniel. "It actually reminds me of my dad"

"Really?" Betty asked surprised. "Ya, don't you remember his office. It was just like this. The furniture is all sturdy and having this overpowering quality to it."

"I guess so." Betty checked in with the secretary and she and Daniel sat down. They both looked around taking in their surroundings. After a few minutes the secretary called Betty.

"Betty Suarez" the secretary called. "You may go in now."

"Good luck in there, Betty."

"Thanks!" Betty smiled getting up. "Betty!" Betty looked back to see Daniel holding his hands up. "You're so silly, Daniel" she came over and slapped his hands. Daniel smiled watching her walk in. She walked in taking a breath.

"Hello Betty, my name is Mr. Moore. Have a seat please" Betty smiled "Hi Mr. Moore. It's a pleasure to meet you." Betty greeted the man whom she could already tell seemed nice; he had slightly graying hair, really light brown eyes, an inviting smile, in his late 50s. He began by telling Betty about the magazine and what it strives to do. After some time of him telling her about their magazine Betty realized this man really loved to talk. He could go on and on about something. After about 20 minutes, he finally asked her questions. "Now Betty, where was it that you worked in New York?" She remembered writing on the application that she worked at MODE. Maybe he forgot. "I worked as assistant to the editor in chief at MODE Magazine."

"Did you say you worked for Daniel? Daniel _Meade_?" Betty was suddenly nervous. This could either be bad or really bad that she worked for Daniel. Who was she kidding, Daniel has had some pretty bad press, even though he's gotten better, there was still things from his past that could look bad.

"Yes, I was his assistant back in New York."

"So, you're the assistant who was able to talk some sense into the young lad." Betty didn't know what to be more shocked about. That he knew who she was or that she was the person who 'talked' some sense into Daniel.

"That boy was always getting into trouble. I saw his work at MODE. Rather good stuff. In fact some of it better than before he started MODE"

"I remember when he came out with the Fabia layout. Beautiful piece…It was a brilliant idea. I'm quite impressed that you were able to come up with an idea like that so quickly in your job and letting Daniel take credit for it."

"Wait, what?" Betty was completely curious as to what was happening right now. How did he know all of that? "I'm sorry, Mr. Moore, how do you know Daniel…and about me? And all of that?"

"Oh, of course, I should have mentioned before, I'm dear friends with Bradford." Betty was now in shock. She thought it was really funny how Daniel just said that this place reminded him of his father and now this man said he knew Daniel's father. It all made sense. "It's too sad that he had to go so soon. But, yes, I've known Danny since he was a young boy. He was a trouble maker and, took after his father with the ladies, I suppose. I lost touch for some time, but when I met with Bradford two years ago he told me of his son's troubles and wanted to make him into a better man he knew he could be. I believe he hired you at the time. He spoke of you highly, saying you were the only person who got through to him, especially in such a short time."

"Wow." Betty was truly speechless.

"Over the years, I've seen what MODE has done, and you have indeed changed Danny-boy into an admirable young man."

Betty smiled. "I can't take all the credit for that. Daniel really has a lot going for him. I guess he just needed to put his heart into something other than chasing supermodels."

"Yes, it took him someone with substance to see that there was more to life than chasing women." He said looking at Betty favorably. Betty smiled.

"So, how was it working for Daniel?"

"Oh, it's been great. I mean, MODE can be crazy at times. Actually, really crazy…there's always drama. I guess it's entertaining, but it can be a lot to handle sometimes. But Daniel has always been there for me. He's a really good boss, and an even better friend." Mr. Moore smiled. "If I have to say, the best part about working at MODE was working with Daniel."

"That's good to hear my dear. Now, I'm sure you're tired of the second degree. I should probably tell you about the job." Betty smiled.

"I need someone to plan a rather large event for the magazine. This event is a benefit, but also to promote our magazine and how it helps the community. I will need you to coordinate all the details, such as the venue, the promotion, the photography, the styles… Since you worked at MODE, we could possibly arrange some sort of fashion show. I'm going to leave the planning to you. Whatever you think is appropriate. I am giving you complete freedom in planning this event. I would just like to be aware of the plans, so I could give suggestions if needed and help as much as I can. I have complete faith in your abilities. I assure you that you will have a team to work with you as well. You will just be handling the grand scheme and pretty much tell people what you need them to do."

"Wow. Thank you" Betty was slightly overwhelmed with the total freedom she had in planning this event. She was kind of excited that she would get to be her own boss and make decisions, but there was also a lot more pressure due to the complete lack of direction she had to take. She realized she was going to need a lot of help.

"So, can you start tomorrow? I will need this event planned in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Betty said shocked. "That is a really short time. Are you sure that it can happen that quickly? I'm going to need a lot of help if this has to happen in such a short time."

"Yes, of course. I will be hiring quite a few more people for this project."

"Ok. Great. I will start on the plans right away."

"Before you leave, I would like to request a favor of you?"

"Yes?"

"I saw on your application that you are a writer?"

"Yes, I want to write things that inspire people, especially girls to be who they are and not be afraid to be themselves and do what they love."

"That is indeed admirable, Betty. I would love it if you could write a piece for the magazine."

"Wow, I would love that!" Betty said excitedly. "What do you want me to write about?"

"Anything you wish. In fact, you could write about what you just said to me if you wish. It is up to you. I want to hear what you have to say." He said sweetly. Betty was completely stunned by her ability to plan and write about anything without limits. It was also nerve-wracking, because that meant she couldn't fall back on anything.

"Thank you. That would be great."

"I look forward to working with you, Betty."

"Thank you. I appreciate this opportunity."

"Be here at 10am and we can start brainstorming the event."

"Great. Thank you again." Betty said as she got to the door. Before she opened the door she turned "Just so you know, Mr. Moore, Daniel would really hate it if you called him Danny." His eyes got slightly big, Betty thought she shouldn't have said that, but suddenly a laugh filled the room. "He still hates to be called that. I remember teasing the boy. He would always punch my arm and tell his father." Betty laughed.

"Good day, Betty."

"Thank you. Bye." Betty said walking out of the room.

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AN: Hope you liked it! The next one coming up is another one of my favorites! lol :P


	10. Did You Just Say What I Think You Said?

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Here is the next part! Glad you're enjoying it! THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVES! LOL :) :) **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Did You Just Say What I Think You Said? **

Betty laughed as she walked out to see Daniel knocked out on the chaise. She touched his arm lightly "Daniel, did you fall asleep?" Daniel smiled as he opened his eyes, and then stood up. "God, Betty, how long were you in there?" he said looking at his watch.

Betty giggled "I'm sorry." Betty walked over to the secretary to give her the notecard Mr. Moore gave her.

"You're lucky I stayed, Betty. If I wasn't in love with you, I would have left by now." _Crap. Did I just say that out loud, to Betty? _Daniel could have sworn he saw the secretary's eyes get big in surprise._ Maybe Betty didn't hear me. Oh, who am I kidding, she most definitely heard me_, Daniel thought to himself panicking for what might happen next.

Betty's eyes got big in shock; she turned and came over to him. _Oh boy, here it comes_, Daniel thought he was about to get slapped, but instead Betty leaned next to him and said "Did you just say what I think you said?" Daniel looked at her, and leaned a little closer "What did you think I said?" Betty looked up at him, trying to read his eyes. Maybe she was just hearing things. Yep, that's it! There was no way Daniel Meade just said he was in love her. Betty Suarez. Ya right. "Uh nothing, never mind… let's go, I'm starving." Daniel sighed as Betty walked in front of him. He could have sworn he heard the secretary sigh, too. Daniel shook his head and followed Betty out the door.

They walked to this café that was a few blocks away from where her interview was. There was a strange silence. Not necessarily awkward, but Daniel wasn't sure what was going through Betty's mind. "So, Betty, how did the interview go?" he hadn't even realized that he didn't ask her yet. He was so worried about his slip that he completely forgot about everything else. "Umm...actually, it went really...amazing."

"Really? That's great, Betty! You see, I told you you'd be great." He said smiling in confidence.

"You will not believe who the Editor in Chief is?"

"Who?" he asked curiously. "His name was Mr. Moore, he said he knew your father, and he knew you when you were a kid."

He thought for a moment. "Ohh...that guy? He's the editor in chief of the magazine you had an interview for? Wow. That explains the office. He always got on my nerves." They took a seat outside of the café once they reached it.

"He called you Danny and I told him that you wouldn't be too happy if you heard him call you that, and he told me when you were a kid you would always punch him and go complain to your dad." Betty laughed. Daniel laughed "He was annoying."

"Well, he said some nice things about you."

"Really?" Daniel asked surprised.

"He said something about your past behavior, but was really impressed with how you've changed and how well you've been running MODE."

"I hope you told him that that could only have happened with you by my side."

"Apparently he knew all about that. Your father told him about me around the time he hired me. He knew about the Fabia thing, and he said he really liked what you did with MODE and how it was even better than before you were Editor in Chief."

"Wow. Really?" Daniel said surprised his eyes bright. "Ya" Betty smiled just as bright.

"That's uh...really interesting, huh?"

"I know, what are the odds of that?"

"So, that means you got the job?"

"Oh ya! ...you will not believe how crazy it is. He wants me to plan this entire event for the magazine. He's putting me in charge of everything."

"Betty! That's great! Wow"

"He even wants me to write a piece for the magazine."

"Wow...that's unbelievable. I'm really happy for you, Betty. You deserve this."

"Thank you, Daniel." She got up from her chair and walked around to him. He looked up at her with a curious expression. She reached over and hugged him. "Thank you."

He looked at her oddly. "What did I do?" he asked confused.

She moved away to look at his face. "Daniel, I got this job thanks to you."

He raised his eyebrow "I didn't do anything, Betty."

"Sure you did. If I hadn't worked for you, he probably wouldn't have been so impressed by me."

He took her hand in his "Betty, I had absolutely nothing to do with this. Sure maybe you making me into somewhat of a decent person helped, but I'm sure you earned this job because of how amazing you are. You said it yourself that he was impressed by your Fabia idea."

"Well, I still wouldn't have done all that without_ you_, Daniel." Daniel smiled "Well, uh...thanks Betty. Now, how about we celebrate your new job with some amazing sweets?"

"Okay!" Betty said cheerfully. Daniel smiled letting go of her hand. He hadn't even realized he was still holding it. He was surprised that Betty let him hold her hand for that long, which he kind of really wished he kissed now. He wondered if Betty was thinking the same thing because her face was rosy from blushing. She walked back over to her chair sitting across from him. He had a contemplative look on his face.

"Well, why are you all the way over there, Betty?" he asked pulling out the chair next to him, making Betty's eyes get big in surprise. He didn't even know what came over him. He didn't mean to be so bold with her, but he was relieved to see that she smiled "you want me to sit next to you?" she asked with a shine in her eyes.

"I kind of do, yes. You're just so far away."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Daniel, I'm only two feet away."

"Might as well be a 100 feet away, Betty"

Her eyes got bigger "Well, uh...okay." she got up and sat in the chair he pulled out for her. He turned his face and looked at her with a delighted smile. She smiled looking at him. "So?" she gave him a spirited look with her eyes. "When are we going to have those sweets you promised?" she asked making Daniel laugh. "I see...so is that the reason why you sat next to me, because I promised you sweets?" a playful smirk came to her face "maybe"

He rolled his eyes "Well, whatever princess Suarez wants she gets."

"Aw...you actually said it nicely this time." She said teasingly. He put his elbow on the table, his face against his hand. "I'd do anything for you, Betty." he said with an admiring look in his eyes. Betty caught his gaze, and couldn't look away. A smile came to her face. When she realized she was kind of staring at him, the waitress came up just in time. Betty looked to the waitress quickly, who ended up glancing at them wonderingly. "Should I come back?" she asked thinking she interrupted something. Daniel looked to the waitress and then back to Betty. Betty felt her heart race inexplicably. "No, uh...Daniel, why don't you just pick something?"

"Oh...ok" he removed his hand from under his face. The waitress smiled "Actually, I have the perfect treat for you two. Did you want to order lunch as well?" Daniel and Betty ordered a couple sandwiches, the waitress going to get their food. About five or six minutes later she came out with their order. "Enjoy your lunch. I'm Ashley, by the way. I'll have your treat out soon." She smiled sweetly. "Thanks Ashley" Betty said appreciatively. "No problem, enjoy" She took one last glance at them and smiled walking off. Daniel smiled looking back to Betty. Ashley was rather young, later 20s; her brown hair tied up in a ponytail; she had a pleasant smile and lovely simple features.

Once they finished their lunch Ashley quickly brought out the treat that she was going to surprise them with. She smiled walking to their table, a little too amused. She placed the treat in between them. Betty and Daniel looked at it and back at her. "You two enjoy now." She said pleased and walked off smiling. Betty rolled her eyes and looked back at Daniel. He just laughed. "Looks great, doesn't it?" he said amused. She smiled "It really does, though." The 'treat' was a heart-shaped piece of chocolate cake with a few strawberries and a heart-shaped sugar cookie with red sprinkles placed in the center. She gave him a spoon with a smile. He took it watching her eyes. "You take the first bite, Betty."

"Uh...why don't we both take the first bite?"

"Okay...princess." he said looking at her. She turned her face and looked at him. She smiled. They both took a spoonful of the cake. "Oh my God! This is amazing!" Betty said after the first bite. Daniel laughed. "It's really good."

"It has ice cream inside!" Betty said excitedly. Daniel laughed. "You and your ice cream!"

"You know you love ice cream, too!" "I do!" he said with a smile. They continued to eat the treat and shared the cookie. Betty tried to ignore the fact that it was in the shape of a heart.

Daniel watched her as she ate the last few bites of the amazingly delicious treat Ashley brought them. He felt his heart race when she glanced at him a sparkle in her eyes as she took a bite. "This is so..." he smiled knowing that she was going to say yummy. "...yummy, Daniel." He felt like now was as good a time as any to just tell Betty how he felt about her. Part of him felt guilty that he wanted to win over the woman that was here with another guy, but he felt like he should let Betty know that he was undoubtedly and totally in love with her. "Listen, uh...Betty..."

"Hmm?" She looked at him with a smile, her lips red from the cold ice cream. How he wanted to kiss her right now. "There is something that I...uh...I want to tell you...I don't know how you'll feel about it, but I think you uh..." there was a sudden ringing "Oh, that's my phone. Hold on one second, Daniel." She took out her phone from her bag "It's Henry. Just give me one minute, Daniel. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine." Daniel sighed running his hand through his hair anxiously. He sat there patiently for her to finish talking to Henry. He noticed how happy she seemed while talking to him. He didn't want to get in the way of that, as much as he loved her, he just wanted her to be happy. As soon as she hung up she looked at Daniel apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Daniel. Henry was on break and he just wanted to call to say hi."

"That's ok, Betty."

"So...uh...what was it that you wanted to tell me?" she asked curiously. "Huh?"

"Uh...you said you wanted to tell me something?"

"Oh...uh...never mind, Betty. It's nothing."

"Are you sure? It didn't really sound like nothing. I'm sorry about the call." She said sadly now wishing she didn't answer it. "Betty, listen it's fine." She looked at him unconvinced. "Look...I was just going to tell you..."

"What?" she asked curiously. He smiled "...that you..." he took a deep breath "ya?" she looked at his eyes. She didn't know why, but she felt her heart race.

A grin came to his face "...you look really funny with ice cream on your face."

Betty looked at him confused. "What? I don't have any ice cream on my face."

Daniel took some ice cream in his fingers and smeared it on her cheek. "You do now!" Betty's eyes went wide. "Daniel!" she slapped his arm. "Ow...dang, that hurt." He said rubbing his arm. He looked at her, as she had her arms across her chest, an annoyed expression on her face. He took a napkin and looked at her "I'm sorry, Betty. That was stupid" he didn't know why he did that. Now he really felt like a child. He held her face and wiped the ice cream off. He couldn't help but smile thinking she looked so cute upset with ice cream on her face. "I don't know what you're smiling about, but I'm mad at you." She said looking at his eyes. His eyes met hers. He sighed "I'm sorry, Betty." he leaned back in his chair feeling miserable.

She looked at him and his sad face "Daniel..." she took his hands and pulled him forward in his chair. "It's ok" she said with a smile. He smiled "You forgive me?"

"Yes" she said with a small laugh.

"So, why the quick change? You get over things pretty quickly."

"No, not really."

"Well, why did you forgive me so quick?"

"Because you're my friend and I love you." Betty said simply with sincerity in her eyes.

"WHAT?" Daniel's eyes practically came out of their sockets. He felt like his heart ran out of his body. "Daniel, you know what I mean." She said with an amused look on her face at his reaction.

"Oh..." he felt like his heart now dropped out of his body and into dirt.

* * *

AN: I will get the next part up sometime today since it goes along with this one! which is another one of my faves! hahahah :P You're going to get sick of me, bc I will say that every time I post a chapter I love. lol :P


	11. Fireflies

**Think of The Firefly**

**_Thanks for your comments. :) hehe especially TMadison telling me she won't get tired of my saying which chapters I like! hehe :) thanks! and yet this is another one of those! _  
**

**_For entertainment only! _**

* * *

**Chapter 11 **

**Fireflies**

It had only been a few seconds since Betty practically killed him. He took a breath and changed the subject. "So, what is it that you have to do for this event?" he asked wanting his heart to come back in his body. The closest time he felt like this was when Sofia pulled her little stunt on national television. But this was worse...way, way worse, because this was Betty. And he actually loved Betty. He realized he was never really in love with Sofia. It was a game from the beginning.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked, her hand on his arm, noticing the light from his eyes gone. He looked at her eyes and couldn't help from smiling. God, how did she do that to him, he thought. "I'm fine, Betty. I guess I'm still a little jet-lagged, I haven't really gotten much sleep."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want to hang out later? I understand if you want some space." He looked at her strangely. Her comment was rather odd. "Betty, you do know that I came all the way from New York to Tucson and am here for two weeks right?"

"Yes?" she looked at him curiously. "If anything, I should probably give you space. I want to be with you, Betty. I mean if that's ok. Once I leave who knows when I'll see you again."

A sadness made its way to her eyes, but then she quickly smiled pushing it back. "You're right. I don't want you to leave. I just...are you sure you're not tired?"

"Betty, please...I rather be here. I'm fine, really."

"Ok." She smiled. She pulled out a small notebook and her pen...the pen he gave her. He couldn't help but smile insanely big. "You have my pen...well your pen?" he laughed.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yep! I love it" She said sincerely. "I have it with me all the time."

"Really?" he asked surprised, a shine in his eyes. Betty smiled noticing the light in his eyes was back. "Yes, I really do love it Daniel. And the thought behind it makes it all the more amazing. And look where I am because of that."

"Because of what?" he asked confused. "Your faith in me, Daniel. You believed in me...and I have this unbelievable job now."

He smiled. Yep, his heart was now back. He was so close to blurting out that he loved her. "Thank you so much, Daniel." She said sincerely and leaned over to hug him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He could smell her sweet scent. He closed his eyes and held her tighter. He felt his heart race. He wondered if she was able to feel it. "Uh...Daniel..."

"Hmm?"

"You're still hugging me..." she laughed. His eyes opened and he felt like an idiot. "Oh...uh..." he let go of her and looked to the ground embarrassed. She smiled looking at him. When he looked back up to see that smile, he felt like he couldn't breathe. "What?" he asked wondering why her smile was so...he didn't really know what to describe it as "You're sweet." She said looking at him. He smiled and felt like he touched a star or something.

"Oh my gosh, are you blushing?" she asked noticing the redness in his face. "What? NO!" he immediately said defensively. Betty just laughed. "Ok, well, do you want me to tell you about the job?" she asked with an amused smile. Daniel rolled his eyes and turned his chair so that he was facing the table now. He hadn't realized that they were sitting so close to each other.

"So, okay, basically Mr. Moore wants me to plan this huge event in two weeks to promote Tucson Lifestyle Magazine and how it helps the community. From the sound of it, he wants this to be a massive event. He said he was going to hire more people. I have a meeting with him tomorrow to discuss any ideas. I was just thinking I could try and come up with some ideas for the event now."

"Oh okay. Do you want me to help you?" he asked looking at her feeling extremely proud of her.

"But Daniel, you're here to-"

Daniel touched her hand "Betty, I'm here for you." He said looking at her eyes. Her eyes caught his and she felt her heart race again. He seemed to do that a lot lately. "I would really love helping you. I mean, if you want. I don't want you to feel like you can't do this by yourself or anything. I just figure since I'm here, I could help you, maybe."

"I would really love that, Daniel. Thank you." He smiled and moved his hand from hers, realizing again, that she hadn't moved it. He actually realized that they were a lot closer here in Tucson. For some reason there seemed to be this invisible line that they couldn't cross when they worked together, but now that they were here, it felt like they were more connected somehow.

"FIREFLIES!" Betty blurted loudly making the people around them look at their table strangely. "What?" Daniel said confused snapping out of his thoughts. "Daniel, that's it! That's the theme!" Betty said excitedly.

Daniel just looked at her. She reached in her bag and pulled out the wooden box that Daniel gave her. "You have that with you?" Daniel asked surprised, more because she carried the box around, too. "Of course, Daniel. I love it! Thank you so much. It's really one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. Thank you." Daniel just smiled brightly because she was smiling brightly. He loved that smile. Betty opened the box and placed it in front of him. "Remember, you told me to think of the firefly when I'm upset or something, and that the firefly brings light to dark times."

Daniel looked at her "uhh...ya?"

"Well, Daniel that's it!" he still looked at her not getting it. "Daniel, when I first came here, I was kind of upset and basically I went up to the mountains and saw the lights of the city...that made me think of New York and our bridge and the lights from the city. And because I was upset I thought of the firefly like you told me. Get it? Basically, the theme will be the firefly...kind of like city lights." Betty said smiling brightly extremely proud of her idea.

"Wow, Betty. That is brilliant. Great idea"

"It's all thanks to you, Daniel." Betty said touching his hand affirmatively. "I'm glad I could help." He said playfully.

She smiled and felt something she couldn't explain, but she quickly looked back to her notebook. "Ohhh...my God! Daniel! I just got another great idea!" She said excitedly. Daniel looked at her and her bright eyes and couldn't help but feel like he was in the right place. He felt his heart jump anxiously. "Well, what is it?" he asked curiously. "You better write it down before you forget!"

She smiled and quickly jotted down her idea. He watched her, and how her eyes seemed to sparkle and that smile. He was so close to grabbing her face and kissing her with all that was in him, but the waitress ended up coming. "Hey you two, did you enjoy your treat?" she asked looking at Daniel with a perceptive look. He smiled looking at her; Betty looked at Daniel and Ashley. "It was great, Ashley. Thanks" Daniel said with a pleased smile. Betty smiled looking to Ashley. "Great! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Do you want me to bring the bill?"

"Sure." Daniel smiled pulling out his wallet. "Great. I'll be right back." She smiled and walked off.

"What was that?" Betty asked as soon as she left. He looked at her curiously. "What?"

"You were flirting with her."

"Uh...no, I wasn't. And so what if I was?"

"I was just saying..."

"Saying what? You sounded like I wasn't allowed to...what's the deal anyways? You have Henry!" he said automatically regretting saying that. "Yes, I do!" she said annoyed. Daniel sighed. "Listen Betty"

"Here you go" Ashley said cheerfully walking up to their table. He smiled taking it from her. He didn't know what came over him, but he wanted to get back at Betty. "So, uh...Ashley, it has been a pleasure having you be our waitress. Next time I come, I'll make sure to ask for you." He winked. She looked at him surprised, and then she blushed. "Thank you." Betty looked at Daniel. Daniel smiled as Betty watched him. "Listen, uh...next time I come, why don't you join us...and maybe we can have some coffee" he shot her a flirting smile, but this time he quickly gestured with his eyes at Betty. She glanced at Betty and smiled looking back to Daniel "Ohhh...oh-kay. That would be great. Might I ask what your name is?" She asked playfully.

"It's Daniel."

"Daniel...well, it's very nice to meet you." She smiled flirtingly. He smiled putting a bunch of cash in the book and handed it to her. She really did deserve that tip. He still held onto his end and looked at her amber eyes "Thank you Ashley." She smiled, almost wanting to laugh.

"Have a wonderful day. And you too." She looked to Betty. "And what is your friend's name?"

"I'm Betty." she smiled. "Betty, well take care." She winked at Daniel and walked away. He smiled looking to Betty. "You are something" she said with an annoyed look on her face. "You see, Betty. That was flirting, honey."

Betty looked at him with wide eyes. "Just admit it." he said with a grin.

"What?" she asked annoyed. "That you were jealous, Betty. It's ok. I understand. You want me all to yourself."

"What! I'm not jealous! And I certainly don't _want_ you, Daniel!"

"Okay. Whatever you say." He looked at her "princess" he said with a grin. She rolled her eyes and went back to her notebook scribbling something in the corner. He looked at her and at her notebook. "What did you write?" he asked noticing she pressed really hard on the pen and underlined whatever she wrote three times. "Nothing" she said moving the notebook away. He looked at her and wanted to laugh. He snatched the notebook from her. "Daniel!" she said trying to reach for it. He stood up and looked in the corner she wrote in. He laughed and handed her the notebook. "Daniel sucks? Really Betty? Are we in middle school?" he laughed again and took a seat. He shook his head and laughed again. He couldn't help it.

"You find this funny?" she asked frustrated. He looked at her and laughed again. "As a matter of fact, I do Betty. I find this _very_ funny!" he said laughing again. She narrowed her eyes and punched him in his arm. "Owww! Jeez Betty" he rubbed his arm, the same arm she hit before. He looked at her, sitting there with her arms across her chest staring at the notebook. He wanted to laugh again, but he knew if he did she would blow up. "Listen Betty, why don't you tell me that amazing idea you got a few minutes ago?"

"You really want to hear it?" she asked looking at him

"Sure, why not?"

She smiled faintly "Okay." He rolled his eyes with a smile. Betty went on to tell him her idea. They darted ideas back and forth, ending up staying at the café until it was closing time. "Wow, you two are still here?" Ashley said walking out with her things looking like she was leaving for the night.

Betty and Daniel looked to her. "Betty here got a new job" Daniel said with a smile "...and we were working on ideas for this event she has to plan."

"Congratulations on the job! That's wonderful! I actually just got a promotion"

"Really? That's great" Betty and Daniel said together. Ashley laughed. "Yes."

"It was actually thanks to your great tip. Thank you" she said appreciatively looking at Daniel. He smiled. "So, what is your promotion?" he asked curiously. "Well, actually, I am a pastry chef. I actually made that little treat for you two."

"Really?" Betty and Daniel said again at the same time. They looked at each other this time and laughed. "Yes, you two are wonderful. It has been an absolute pleasure meeting you." She said with a sincere smile. Betty and Daniel smiled brightly. "Oh, and Betty, I'm sorry about before. I was just going along with his little trick on you. I hope you aren't upset with me."

Betty was taken back by her apology and the fact that she didn't want her to be upset with her. "No, that's ok Ashley. Daniel, here" she looked at him with a slight glare and back at her "explained everything." "I'm glad you two are such great friends. Now, I should be off. I've been working all day and I miss my husband, so I'm going to go see him." She said with a shine in her eyes.

Betty and Daniel smiled. "That's sweet. Have a good night" Betty said with a bright smile. "You have a lovely smile, Betty."

"Aw, thank you." Betty said appreciatively. Daniel looked at Betty with an admiring look. Ashley smiled looking at Daniel. "I'm looking forward to that coffee you promised me" she said teasingly. "Sure." He said with a smile. "Bye. Have a good night" Daniel said smiling. She nodded and walked off.

"She is soooo nice!" Betty said with a happy smile on her face. Daniel smiled looking at Betty. "You're so nice, Betty." She looked at him and smiled brighter if that was possible. "You're nice, too, Daniel. She just got a promotion thanks to you."

"Well, thanks to us, because she wouldn't have made that treat for us, and I wouldn't be here if you weren't here. So, it's really all thanks to you, Betty."

Betty shook her head. "It's 9 already. We've been here all day. Maybe we should call it a night."

"Sounds good. I'm beat."

"You need to sleep, Daniel." Daniel called a cab for both of them.

"Good night Betty" Daniel said as he stood by her as she held the door. "Good night, Daniel. Thanks for all your help" she hugged him tightly. He smiled "Anytime Betty." She smiled and got in leaving Daniel to his cab. He made it home not too much later. Betty got home and went up to her room and noticed the dresses on her bed and the card. She shook her head. She wasn't even going to bother being angry at this point. She should have known Daniel would do something like this.

She picked up the card and read it with a smile.

_Please don't kill me, Betty!_

_You looked way too beautiful in these dresses for me to take them back. I know you might be angry at me right now, but seriously Betty you looked lovely in these. Hope your interview went well!_

_Your best friend, _

_Daniel. _

She smiled and fell back on her bed. She took out her phone and called Daniel. "Betty!" Daniel answered happily.

"Hi Daniel." She said with a smile.

"So, Betty, you're not bored of me?" he asked teasingly.

"What?"

"You're calling me 20 minutes after you left? Do you miss me that much already?" he said feeling his heart race.

Betty laughed. "Very funny, Daniel. Actually, I got your card."

"Oh boy." Daniel mumbled under his breath thinking this might not be good.

"Thank you."

"What?" he answered shocked.

"That was really sweet. I owe you, though."

"Betty, you don't owe me anything."

"Daniel. Please!"

"Fine, Betty. I'm not going to argue with you."

"That's because you know I'll win."

"What? Ya right, Betty!" He responded defensively, but knowing that was kind of true.

"Thank you for all of your help."

"Don't mention it, Betty." He smiled. He really wanted to tell Betty. "Hey Betty-"

"Sorry, Daniel, Henry's on the other line. I think he's on his way home."

"Oh. Right. Ok. Bye Betty" Daniel said sadly thinking maybe he really just had to let it go.

"Daniel..."

Daniel sighed. "Yes, Betty?"

"...I'll see you tomorrow." Betty said smiling.

"Good night, Betty." Daniel smiled and hung up.

"Good night, Daniel." Betty said looking at the phone.

"Oh crap, Henry!" "...hello?" Betty said answering the phone.

"Hey Betty, I'm on the way. I'll see you soon. Love you."

Betty smiled. "I'll see you soon, Henry. I was thinking we could watch a movie tonight."

"That's a possibility" he said and hung up. Betty looked at the phone strangely. She shook her head and looked at the dresses. She couldn't help but smile. He got her all the dresses she liked and apparently the ones that he liked. She smiled and put on the white one, putting away the others. Now she wondered why she never picked this one. It was so pretty. She picked up the card again and smiled lying back on her bed.

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AN: :) :) I'll have the next part up tomorrow! :)


	12. Impending Thoughts

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Thanks again for your reviews! :) Hope you continue to enjoy it! **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

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**Chapter 12**

**Impending Thoughts**

Henry knocked on Betty's door lightly, but she didn't respond. He quietly opened the door seeing Betty asleep on the bed. He walked in with flowers in his hand and noticed the pretty white dress she was wearing. He smiled walking over to her. "Betty?" he touched her arm lightly. "Hmm?" she rolled over hugging a pillow. "Hmm Daniel...that was my strawberry..." she mumbled. At first Henry narrowed his eyes, but then he laughed. He brushed his hand along her cheek. She smiled and opened her eyes. "Henry?" she said sleepily.

"Hey Betty" She smiled when she saw the flowers on the bed. "Aww...you got me flowers?" she said sitting up. "I actually have another surprise for you, but if you're too tired..."

"No...That's ok. I mean, I am kind of sleepy, but..."

"Okay. Come with me" he took her hand and she smiled taking it. They went down the stairs "You look beautiful Betty. That's a lovely dress"

"Thank you" She smiled brightly taking a quick glance at her dress. "Where'd you get it?"

"Oh...uh...I uh...bought it yesterday." She didn't know why she didn't tell him Daniel got it, now she wished she didn't lie. "ok...it's really nice."

"Thank you." Henry walked her outside "Where are we going?" she asked confused. "It's a surprise." Betty looked at him and the smile that was on his face. She smiled. They walked to the side of the house and there was a table set with candles and flowers on it, food placed for both of them and a bottle of wine. Betty's eyes lit up. "Wow, you did all of this?" she asked surprised. "How did you even do this?" she asked looking at the table. He smiled and looked at her "I wanted to do something nice for you, Betty. I'm sorry I haven't spent a lot of time with you." She looked at him and smiled hugging him to her. "Thank you. This is very sweet."

"Are you hungry?"

"I guess I am a little. I haven't had anything since lunch."

"Ok..." he took her hand and led her to the table. He sat across from her, with a smile on his face. She couldn't help but think about Daniel and how he sat next to her because he thought she was too far. She almost laughed; she looked at him with an amused smile. "Do you want to sit next to me?" she asked making Henry smile wider. "Ok" he got up and moved his chair next to her. She smiled looking at him.

They started eating and talking "So, Betty, how was your day?"

"It was great. I got a job today."

"You did? Wow, that's great, Betty."

"What is it?"

"It's at a magazine. I have to plan this big event. I'm in charge of everything."

"Wow, that's amazing, Betty!" Betty smiled brightly. "The Editor in Chief also wants me to write a piece for the magazine." She said with a sparkle in her eyes. "Wow. I'm really happy for you Betty."

"Thank you, Henry."

"So, you can consider this dinner and the flowers a celebration for your new job."

Betty smiled widely. "Thanks...this is so nice. And it's so nice outside." Henry looked at her and her smile and held her face in his hands and kissed her. She smiled looking at his eyes as he moved away. "I love you, Betty."

She smiled. "Me too, Henry. Thank you for all of this. It's so beautiful."

He smiled, but he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she didn't say it back. Every time he did tell her, she would just say 'me too'. He wanted to ask, but was too nervous thinking he would make things weird for her. He didn't want to push her, but clearly she had to love him if she was here in Tucson with him. He just pushed the thought to the back of his mind. "So, what else did you do today?"

"Daniel and I had lunch and we were kind of just working on planning the event together."

"He's planning the event with you? Did he get the job, too?" Henry asked jokingly. "No, he was just helping me. I guess since he's going to be here for a little while he wanted to help me. I mean, I don't know what else he will do anyways, and I could use all the help I can get. Mr. Moore wants me to plan it in 2 weeks, so it's going to take a lot."

"Okay. So, how long is he staying again?"

"Two weeks since yesterday."

"That's a long time, don't you think?"

"Well, I did tell him about that, but he said it was ok. I don't really mind. It's nice to have a friend here." Betty said with a smile thinking of how wonderful it was to have Daniel here with her. Henry felt saddened by that. He felt like he wasn't doing enough for Betty, which wasn't necessarily false. He had pretty much come home late every night since she moved here to be with him, and not to mention changing plans all the time because of Charlie or Nate. Of course, she wanted a friend. And of course, she wanted Daniel. Henry knew that. They were always close. He wished he could be a friend like that to Betty.

"So, uh Betty, did you and Daniel have strawberries today?" he asked curiously remembering her sleep-talking. Betty looked at him with wide eyes. "How did you?"

Henry laughed looking at her. "You were mumbling in your sleep."

Betty's heart began to race. "Oh...uh...what did I say?" she asked nervously. "You said Daniel...and then you said that was your strawberry." He laughed again. Betty's heart rate came back to normal. She smiled. "At the café we went to the waitress made us a dessert and it had strawberries and Daniel and I were supposed to share the strawberries, but he ate mine." She laughed.

"So, what was the dessert?" he asked. "It was a chocolate cake and it uh...had ice cream inside...it was so awesome and it had a ...uh...cookie in the center and uh...strawberries." She said leaving out the details of the heart-shaped cake and cookie.

"That sounds good."

"It was amazing." Betty said remembering it and her and Daniel sharing it. She smiled.  
"So, the waitress made the dessert? That's kind of weird?" Henry said in observation.

"She's a pastry chef and she actually got a promotion because of the amazing tip Daniel gave her."

"That's nice."

"She was so happy." Betty said smiling thinking about how much Daniel made her day. He definitely had his moments. "What are you thinking?" Henry asked noticing the look in her eyes. "I was just thinking how happy she was. She was so grateful to us for having lunch there. She laughed at us for being there so long."

"How long were you there?"

"We were pretty much there the whole day. After my interview, we had lunch and ended up staying until the place closed."

"Wow." Henry couldn't help but feel extremely jealous that Betty spent her entire day with Daniel. Betty looked at him "So, how was your day?"

"Nothing really...the same old usual...uneventful..."

"Okay...well, how is Nate?"

"He's good. He's feeling better. I was actually wondering the three of us should do something together."

"Really? I mean, would Charlie be okay with that? And what would we do?"

"I was just thinking we could spend some time with him...and Charlie is going to have to get over it. I love _you_, Betty." Betty smiled. "Okay"

Henry pulled her closer to him and kissed her passionately. Betty was a little surprised. She had a feeling where this was going, but couldn't help but feel like she was not in the mindset to do anything more than kiss him. She didn't even know what was happening. She felt him deepen the kiss and pull her closer. She brought her hand to his chest and moved away from him slightly. "Henry..."

"Hmm..." he said as he placed kisses along her neck. "I uh...I don't think I'm uh...up for doing anything tonight." He moved back and looked at her. "I've just been working all day, and I'm really tired. I hope you're not upset."

He looked at her eyes. He was upset, but this was not something that he wanted to push with Betty. "Okay...it's fine." He took the wine and poured another glass, drinking it all. Betty narrowed her eyes. She felt bad, but she couldn't explain why she didn't feel like being with him in that way tonight. Well, she sort of had an idea, but chose to ignore it. She kissed him sweetly on his cheek. "Thank you for being so sweet" she kissed his cheek again. He smiled. They just finished eating and went to sleep for the night.

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AN: I'll get the next part up very soon! :)


	13. Test Run

**Think of The Firefly**

_**I uploaded this chapter too since it's kinda short. Thanks :)**_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

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**Chapter 13**

**Test Run**

_Day 3 of Daniel being in Tucson_

Daniel woke up the next morning feeling slightly better, but he still had a hard time falling asleep. All he could do was think about Betty. When he did find himself dozing off, he dreamt of Betty. He smiled thinking she truly was and is everything to him. He got dressed and called Betty at 9am.

"Hi Daniel" Betty said sweetly.

"Good morning, princess!" he said with a boyish grin. Betty smiled on the other end. "So, uh...Daniel...I just found out that I have a lot of meetings today, so uh..." a frown came to her face "I...uh won't be able to see you today." She said sadly.

"Oh...aw...well, that's ok, Betty. Do you want me to come pick you up?"

"That would be so wonderful, but I'm already on the way Daniel. I really want to see you, but I'm sorry. I just found out a little while ago."

"No, that's ok, Betty. I'm really proud of you. Today is your first official day, huh?" Betty felt butterflies in her stomach. She loved how much Daniel was proud of her. It really kept her going. She smiled brightly. "Thank you, Daniel. And yes, today is my first official day. I'm so nervous."

"You'll do great, Betty."

"Thank you, Daniel. Have a nice day! Maybe you could find something to do. I wish I knew."

"Betty, it's fine. Don't you worry about me. I'll find something to keep myself busy. Good luck today!"

"Thank you! Bye Daniel." She smiled. "See you, Betty." he smiled and hung up.

Betty made her way to the office. "Hi Mr. Moore." She said as she walked in seeing him. "Oh, good morning, Betty"

Betty smiled. "So, am I meeting with you first to discuss my ideas?"

"Yes, of course. I'll go over the meetings you will have today, and then we can sit down and discuss this event."

"Ok, great." She followed Mr. Moore to a conference room. "I hired a few more people yesterday to help you. We still need quite a few more people, but perhaps we will discuss that after we go over what your vision is" Betty felt butterflies. Her vision? She was overwhelmed that she had so much power to have_ her_ vision be shown. She smiled brightly. "That's great sir."

"Please Betty, call me James."

"Ok James" For the next two hours Betty went on to explain her vision and all the other ideas that she and Daniel discussed and came up with. "That is wonderful, Betty. Now I know I hired the right person for the job. I'm truly inspired by your idea and I think it is something that can make a huge splash. Now, you say, Daniel was helping you with this?" he asked curiously.

Betty smiled. "Yes, Daniel is here to visit me and we worked on some of the ideas together. He really inspired me for this idea Mr. Moore. I truly couldn't have come up with something like this without him."

"It's truly wonderful. I am eager to see how the plans develop further. You just let me know if you need any assistance or if you need any help with ideas, although, you seem to have a clear vision, which I am very pleased with."

"Thank you, James. I really am excited to see how this event will come through."

"Yes, my dear. Now, your next meeting will be with your team. You can just explain to them your plan and what you want them to do. Each person I hired has a certain specialty, so this will be a good time for you all to get to know one another."

"Great. Thank you." After 10 minutes the other people Mr. Moore hired came in and they all got to know each other better before discussing the project. There was Jenny, a young brunette with green eyes, she reminded her of Amanda, with that seductive, I'm fabulous quality to her; and then there was Aaron, a fit athletic looking young man, blond hair, brown eyes, who seemed really smart and efficient. They were both in charge of decorations and set-up. Then there was Emily, a college student, with an edgy tough-girl look; she was the graphic designer and was to work on all the art work and advertising for the event. Mark, who ironically, reminded her nothing of Marc, was a little older than the rest of them in his mid-30s, rather quiet and reserved, again nothing like Marc; he was in charge of the venue and getting a sponsor for holding the event. She still needed to find a designer for the Fashion show, a DJ for the music, advertisers, a photographer, stylists, caterers, and the list went on. She hoped that Mr. Moore was able to help her find some, since she had no idea where to even begin to look for these people. Betty made a list of all the people on her team, what each one was supposed to do, and then a list of all the others she would need to make this event possible.

The next hour they all darted ideas back and forth for the event and came up with mock-ups and plans for how they wanted things to be set-up. Betty was extremely glad that they all seemed to work well together. Now, she just needed to pull the other strands together to make this event what she saw it to be.

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AN: I know this wasn't totally eventful, but I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow, which is a lot more eventful! lol :P


	14. A Pleasant Conversation

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Thanks for your reviews! :) :) You guys are my guilty pleasure! LOL so, you get this chapter earlier! :P**_

_**For entertainment only! :P **_

_**p.s. another one of those that I love :P**_

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**Chapter 14**

**A Pleasant Conversation**

Meanwhile Daniel had decided to go to the café that he and Betty met Ashley at to see if she was there. He walked in this time and went to the receptionist "Hi, umm...would Ashley happen to be in today?" he asked the tall, dark haired guy standing at the podium.

"She's not working today. Did you want me to leave a message for her?"

"Umm...actually can you call her?"

"Daniel?" Daniel turned to see Ashley coming in the café wearing a blue dress rather than her work clothes. "Ashley, I was just coming to see you. Uh..."

"Oh, you did? That coffee, I presume?" she asked with a smirk. Daniel smiled. "Just give me one minute and I'll be right with you."

"Ok, I'll be outside."

"Great." she walked inside and talked to the manager. Daniel sat outside. About six minutes later Ashley walked out and came over to his table. "So, how are you doing today?" she asked taking a seat across from him. "Where's Betty?" she asked curiously. "She had to work today. I didn't know where else to go. You're really nice, so I figured we could just talk and besides, I _did_ promise you that coffee." He said with a grin.

"That's right, you did." She smiled. They both got some coffee and started talking. "So, are you off today?"

"Yes, I just came to sign something. My boss is making me the head pastry chef." She smiled brightly. "Wow, that's fantastic. I'm really glad"

"Thank you so much, Daniel."

"You deserve it" he smiled. "It was really delicious. Thank you for making it for us."

A grin came on her face. "So, what's the deal with you and Betty? You are clearly in love with her, am I right?"

"Yes, I love her...a lot! But we're kind of just friends. She actually moved here to be with her...boyfriend."

"Oh..." a frown came to her face. "Well, that's too bad, you two are wonderful together. You two seem like you are made for each other."

Daniel smiled slightly. "I think so, too. She just makes everything better. She's so beautiful, and a wonderful person, and my best friend. And the best thing that's ever happened to me"

"Aww, well that is just too sweet. Have you told her you love her?" a huge dramatic sigh escaped Daniel. She looked at him with an amused smile. "I take it that that means things are complicated." Daniel met her eyes and nodded. "Every time I want to tell her, there is just something. I feel bad that I might take her away from someone else, but I just love her, but I also want her to be happy. She seems to be happy every time she talks to her boyfriend. I really don't want to get in the way of that. And I don't know, every time I was close to telling her, Henry ends up calling her."

"I take it that's the boyfriend."

"Ya..." Daniel sighed. "Well, I can tell that she likes you. She has this smile and look in her eyes and I know that look. That is how I look at my husband." Daniel smiled brightly. "She seems to value your opinion and I can tell she cares a lot about you. Perhaps, she just doesn't know that she is in love with you yet."

"Really?"

"I think you should tell her, but at the same time I do understand why you're not. But listen to me, Daniel; I can see that she loves you. I think you will know the time to tell her. Just don't wait too long or you might lose her. You two actually reminded me a lot of me and my husband. We were friends since high school; we never thought anything of it. We were really close. We always hung out together, did everything together... I was actually starting to date someone in college, my first boyfriend I guess...my husband and I didn't hang out as much, and I missed him terribly and I know he missed me, and actually, one night...after my date...he ended up at my apartment and told me he was in love with me, and that he couldn't take seeing me with my boyfriend at that time. At first, I was angry with him because I thought he was just jealous that I was spending so much time with my boyfriend, but then he kissed me...and I swear to you, Daniel, I never felt more right than anything in the world." Daniel smiled "I still remember that kiss till this day. It was unbelievable..." she looked away for a minute and then looked back at Daniel with a smile. "I'm sorry; the girl in me got swept up in memories."

"That's fine." He smiled in admiration. "I tell you, Daniel, my husband is the best thing that ever happened to me. We've been married for six years now."

"That's great."

"Our anniversary is actually next week. I can't wait. I have a special surprise for him."

"What is it?" Daniel asked curiously. She smiled brightly, a shine in her eyes. "You know if I didn't like you and Betty so much, I wouldn't tell you, since I just met you, but you are so wonderful..." Daniel smiled. "I'm 3 weeks pregnant." She smiled brightly, her eyes even brighter. "Oh wow, that's great!" Daniel said excitedly. He reached over and hugged her "Congratulations"

She smiled. "Thank you, you're so sweet. No wonder Betty loves you so much. I'm telling you, Daniel. I can see that she loves you... she couldn't take her eyes off you, just as much as you couldn't take your eyes off her. Oh goodness, I saw how you looked at her. It was so sweet. You are unbelievable Daniel. I don't know how she hasn't picked up on it yet." Daniel laughed. "But then again, my husband and I were just as clueless as you two are..."

"Ashley, I uh...actually...here let me show you..." she smiled wondering what he wanted to show her. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small box. Her eyes immediately got brighter. "Oh my!" he put it in front of her and she opened it. "Oh, it's absolutely beautiful. I can tell you right now, she will love it!" She looked at Daniel and smiled. "So, when did you get here?"

"I just came a few days ago. Betty's been here a week and a half now."

"Oh...I see... so, let me get this straight, I presume you had this before you even came here."

Daniel took a deep breath. "Well, the first week she left I basically spent time with her family pretty much every night. I just felt closer to her with them. And they kindly didn't mind me being with them. I guess they all knew how much Betty meant to me. I know her sister definitely did. The last night I was at her house before I came here, I was taking a walk and it really did just hit me. I don't know...I knew I was crazy and I knew she was already with someone, but I couldn't help it. I just got this and that night when I was at her family's, she called the house. She didn't want to talk to me. I don't know. I kind of went crazy. And after dinner, especially after Hilda, her sister- told me that Betty seemed upset, I took the next flight I could get and came here."

"Wow...that's rather romantic, too bad she doesn't even know yet. She's too silly."

Daniel laughed. "When I first got here she was upset because her boyfriend wasn't spending a lot of time with her...basically he got some other girl pregnant and had to move here and so she moved to be with him."

"What? He got some other girl pregnant? Why is she with him?"

"Well, he got her pregnant before they ended up seeing each other...trust me I know...I think she was crazy to even get involved with him after knowing that, but you know...I couldn't really do anything...I tried to tell her she will just get her heart broken. Anyways, basically she moved here and he was barely spending time with her, so I uh...basically I was helping her, so he would pay attention to her. She looked unbelievable. She was stunning..." Daniel stopped talking for a minute. Ashley smiled. "You are seriously unbelievable. That is extremely sweet of you, Daniel."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"What if I tell her, but she gets mad at me? And what if she doesn't feel the same way?"

"Daniel...I don't think you should worry yourself with that. If you love her...which I know you do, clearly...your heart will keep you going."

Daniel smiled. "Thanks."

"Of course." Daniel noticed a man, rather tall, really handsome, dark hair, blue eyes, walking up behind Ashley. He gestured for Daniel to keep quiet. Daniel figured he must be her husband, because he seemed to have a genuine smile. He approached quietly and wrapped his hands around her eyes. At first she jumped slightly, but then a grin came to her face. "Daniel...is the man that put his hands around my eyes safe?" she asked teasingly. "I think so..."

He kissed her cheek and removed his hands from her eyes. "Hey sweetie."

"Hi honey" she kissed his hand. "Daniel, this is my husband, Eric."

"It's great to meet you. My wife was telling me all about you and your friend." He shook Daniel's hand. "Really?" Daniel looked to Ashley. "Of course, I tell my husband everything, and especially about two such wonderful people." She smiled brightly. Eric took a seat next to Ashley holding her hand. "So, where's your charming friend?" he asked curiously.

"She's at work."

"You should go surprise her, Daniel." Ashley said excitedly. "You think so? She has meetings all day. I don't want to be in her way."

"Are you kidding, I think she would be thrilled to see you, especially at her work. From the looks of it, you two worked all day yesterday, so it's obvious she trusts you with her work and values your input."

"We did work together for two years, so I sure hope so." He laughed. "Okay, well you see, you should definitely go. I saw the way she looked at you when you were telling me she got the job. She had this light in her eyes. I know she loves that you are proud of her."

Daniel smiled brightly. "I am! She deserves this! She always worked so hard. She's great" Daniel sighed. "You got it bad, my friend" Eric said. "You are totally in love with her. I say you tell her soon." He added.

"I'll try."

"I'll be right back, Daniel." Ashley went inside the café. A few moments later she walked out with a decorated star-shaped cookie that had Betty across it in blue icing. "Oh wow." Daniel said looking at it as she showed it to him in the wrapper. "It's my treat. You go give it to her."

Daniel smiled brightly. "Thanks, I'm sure she'll love it!" Daniel talked to them for another hour before going to Betty's office. He told Ashley and Eric about how he and Betty met, basically the whole MODE story, and everything up until now. They both sat there in front of him amazed at how dramatic his life and MODE was. Eric and Ashley shared some stories with him. Daniel really admired them. They fit together. He could see that. He wished Betty would see that they fit together.

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AN: :) :) Team Daniel even in Tucson! :P hehe


	15. Surprise at The Office

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Thanks again for your wonderful reviews! I'm glad you liked 'Eric' hehe :P okay so this is another one of those that I love...in fact the next three chapters are! :)**_

_**For entertainment only! :P **_

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**Chapter 15**

**Surprise at the Office**

Daniel made his way to Betty's office. When he walked in he asked the secretary where Betty was. She led him to the conference room she was in. He didn't go in. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't have her see him. He just stood from a distance looking through the glass admiring her working with her team. She was so beautiful. Daniel smiled noticing she was wearing the pleated orange dress he picked out for her, which looked great on her skin. He couldn't explain how he felt when she wore them. Her hair was straight and her bangs fell along her face. She looked so confident and beautiful. He smiled.

"She's a charming one, isn't she?" A voice said approaching him from behind. Daniel looked to the man and back in the conference room and smiled. "She is" he looked back at the man. "Mr. Moore...uh...it's been a long time."

"Yes, it has, my boy. It's good to see you" he patted him on the back friendly. "So, this charming young lady changed your life a great deal, hasn't she?" Daniel looked back in to see Betty and her beautiful smile as she talked to her team. "She really has." He didn't know why he was opening up to this guy. He never really liked him, but he didn't really care. When it came to Betty, he wanted the whole world to know he was in love with her. Now all he had to do was let her know. He would...eventually.

"She never stops talking about you." Mr. Moore said watching Betty through the glass. "Really?" Daniel asked with a wide smile looking to him. "Yes...she has a lot of confidence in you. And you clearly inspire her a great deal." Daniel felt his heart swell with happiness. "She inspires me, too." He looked back at her and smiled.

"You know, I told her that she was able to get your head out of the gutter and stop you from chasing women around, but Daniel...I can see that there is only one woman you are chasing around now..."

Daniel turned to look at him... "I guess, that is very true. I never really thought about that. But I'm not really chasing her. I just want to make her happy...and maybe love me back."

"I can tell you for sure that she does."

Daniel smiled "Look, Mr. Moore, can you give something to Betty for me?"

"Of course, you're not going to say hi to her?"

"Uh...no...I'm so proud of her...I just want her to live her dream. I'm just happy I saw her."

"Alright my boy."

Daniel held out the wrapped cookie and handed it to him with the small card on top. "Thank you."

"Of course. I'll make sure she gets it." Mr. Moore smiled brightly and patted him on the back once more. Daniel smiled and looked through the glass at Betty one last time and smiled leaving. He felt his heart race. He didn't know how it was possible, but the more he saw Betty, the more he loved her.

Betty was drained. It had been hours and hours of non-stop meetings. She wanted to just fall in a chair and stay there. She was just wrapping up her last meeting before having a short break and then doing it all over again. She didn't realize how much work this would be, but she knew she could do it. _I can do this!_ She chanted to herself. She placed her head on the table for a moment. She hadn't realized that she ended up closing her eyes and waking up minutes later. When she lifted her head, she saw in front of her a card on top of something that was wrapped with a red ribbon. She smiled and opened the card first. She looked around her before she even started reading. There was no one even there. She started reading the card.

"_Hi Betty!_

_I am so proud of you! You are amazing! This is a little something from a few friends...Ashley, Eric and Daniel. You totally rock in there...you'll be a star before you know it! _

_Your friend, Daniel"_

Betty smiled and held the card to her for a minute. She couldn't explain how she felt. She felt butterflies, her heart race, tears welling up...she felt silly. She opened the wrapper and smiled when she saw the star-shaped cookie with her name on it. Betty got up and walked out of the conference room and went into Mr. Moore's office. She knocked before completely coming in. He looked up and smiled. "Betty, my dear, everything alright?"

Betty smiled widely. "Yes, as a matter of fact it is. Do you know about this?" she asked waving the card and holding out the cookie to him. A smile instantly came to his face. "When did Daniel come here? Why didn't he come see me?" she asked curiously.

"He came a few hours ago. You were in your meeting and I assume that was why he didn't want to disturb you."

"Oh... well, I wish he at least said hi. Anyways, thank you for giving it to me."

"I thought you could use it. You seem drained. I'm sorry about the infinite meetings today."

"That's ok. It's a lot, but I can do it! Especially with this little surprise..." she held up the cookie with a pleased smile. "Yes, I thought so."

About four hours later, Betty was at home and fell back on her bed. She was so unbelievably tired; she thought she was going to collapse before she made it to her bed. It was 7:30pm and she couldn't believe that she was in meetings all day. She wanted to call Daniel to thank him for the card, but before she knew it she was fast asleep in her dress and all. Betty woke up around midnight because she suddenly felt cold. She got up and changed into her pajamas...her Minnie mouse pajamas that Daniel laughed at. She smiled and picked up her phone, but noticed the time. She couldn't possibly call him this late. Poor thing he hadn't gotten much sleep because of her. She would feel really bad if she woke him up. She just decided she would surprise Daniel tomorrow. She smiled and took out a small shoebox from her closet, taking out a few sheets of paper and started writing for some time. After about fifteen minutes she put it away and went under her covers to sleep.

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AN: Hope you liked it! :) Sigh, we could all use a Daniel :) hehe


	16. Let's Go To Your Place

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Thanks for your reviews again! :) They make me happy! :) Here is another one of my faves! :) yippee...I've been eager to get to this chapter and the next one! hahaha **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

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**Chapter 16**

**Let's Go to Your Place**

_Day 4 of Daniel being in Tucson_

As soon as Betty got out of the house she made her way to this bakery she and Daniel passed by the other day. She got breakfast for both of them which consisted of fresh cinnamon bread – that smelled absolutely amazing- and this original apple and strawberry jelly, and of course coffee and another special treat.

"Hi Daniel!" Betty said before he even had a chance to respond. He laughed at how happy she seemed. She didn't even give him a chance to say hello, but he didn't mind.

"Betty! It's very nice to hear your voice this morning." He said happily.

"Really? Why?" she asked curiously.

"Uh...why else...you're Betty!" he said with a bright smile.

Betty smiled "Awww...well, I'm actually on the way to your place. I just need your address."

"You're coming over?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, today is going to be a Daniel day." She said with a laugh. His smile got brighter "a Daniel day?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, I'm going to spend my entire day with you. I didn't get to see you at all yesterday" she said sadly with a frown coming to her face. Daniel didn't have to see her to know that she had a frown on her face. Part of him felt bad that she was sad, but the other part of him was happy that she was sad because she missed him. "That's ok, Betty. I completely understand. I know you had to work. I'm really proud of you, Betty." He smiled thinking about how great she looked when he went to her office, and how well she was managing everything.

Betty smiled, her eyes shining in appreciation and remembering the cookie and card. "Thank you, Daniel." "Listen, can you give me your address. I'm in the cab now."

"Oh. Right." He quickly told Betty the address to the hotel he was staying at. When he got off the phone with her he hurriedly went to the restroom to take a shower and get dressed wearing some jeans and contemplating on whether to wear his navy blue button-down shirt or a simple black t-shirt. He ended up going with the navy. He figured it wouldn't hurt to look nice.

About 10 minutes after Betty called him she was standing in front of his hotel room. She knocked on the door. As soon as Daniel heard the knock on his door, he immediately darted out of the restroom nearly tripping trying to get to the door. He laughed at himself thinking he felt like a kid with his first crush. He straightened himself up and opened the door. He couldn't explain the feeling he got when his eyes came across Betty and her beautiful smile. He felt like he went to the moon, only better because Betty was here. He loved to see that she was wearing another one of the dresses he bought her; a simple spaghetti strap navy blue dress which looked so wonderful on her. He wanted to laugh. Now he knew why he chose to wear his navy shirt. He smiled bright looking at her eyes. "Wow, what did I do to deserve this?" he asked noticing the coffee and white paper bag in her hand, but really he meant her being here with that gorgeous smile. She smiled walking in "being my best friend". Daniel closed the door, feeling his heart race like a 747 jet. He leaned against the door looking at her set the coffee and bag on the table.

"Wow. This is amazing!" she said taking a look at his room. The room was quite large, with a balcony overlooking the city, a huge king size bed with beautiful black and white bedding. She walked over to the bed and fell back on it. Daniel laughed walking over to her. "Oh my God, this is so comfy!" she said spreading her arms on the bed the fluffiness making her feel like she was floating. She picked her head up to look at him. "If Justin sees this, he would flip!"

Daniel laughed holding out his hands for her. She smiled taking them and he pulled her up. "This place must be so expensive. You're always with me, do you even need to stay in such a fancy place?" she asked looking at him, her hand on her hip.

"Well, I have to impress the ladies" he said jokingly. He noticed the light in her eyes fade "oh" she said simply and looked out the window. She didn't really know why she felt bad. He was a single, extremely handsome, nice guy. And not to mention Daniel Meade.

"I'm kidding, silly." He said playfully shoving her shoulder. "You just said it. I'm with you all the time. The only lady that I will invite here is you, Betty." he said with a sincere look in his eyes. Betty smiled looking at him. She felt her heart race when Daniel's blue eyes met hers. She quickly turned to the table "So, I got us some awesome breakfast."

Daniel smiled following her to the table. "Cool"

She sat at the table and Daniel pulled the chair sitting next to her. She looked at him. "Still thought I was too far, huh?" she asked teasingly. "Yep!" he said simply. "So, what is this awesome breakfast?" he asked curiously. She put the coffee in front of him and opened the bag and pulled out the bread and jelly. "Ok, so this is cinnamon bread."

"Oo, that sounds good."

"And this is strawberry apple jelly."

"Also sounds good" he said with a laugh. Betty cut it in half, putting the jelly on it and gave some to Daniel. "You try it first" Betty said looking at him. "No, I thought we do things together."

"I guess we do. But I've already tried it. I want to see your face when you have a bite." He laughed "Okay" he took a bite and looked to Betty. He didn't know why but he was nervous. "This is really good, Betty."

"No fair!"

"What?" he asked confused. "You never have a reaction to food. You just eat, and then say it's good, but you don't act like it's good."

Daniel looked at her with an amused smile on his face. "I see...well, uh...I do have to admit, you are a lot more...passionate...with your food then I am." Betty raised her eyebrow in curiosity wondering what he was implying. "Oh-kay. Uh..."

He laughed. "Well, how do you want me to react?"

"Well, how did you feel when you ate that?"

"I felt like I said...I felt good."

"No. The only way you will appreciate anything is if you embrace it."

"Okay...that makes sense."

"So, take a bite again, and then tell me everything you feel." He looked at her and just wanted to laugh. "Betty, do you really analyze how food makes you feel?"

"No, I don't analyze food, Daniel. I just feel it. Okay, for example you know that cake or whatever that Ashley made us?"

"That was amazing." He said with a bright smile.

"You see...you just have to bring your heart into it. This isn't just about food, Daniel. I'm not that crazy."

He laughing but looked at her attentively. "When you put your heart into something you just appreciate it more. You should know that more than anyone. When you put your heart into MODE, look what happened. Sure there is all sorts of crazy drama. I think that just comes with the name, but you are successfully running a magazine...not only that...the most important magazine that belongs to MEADE. Now, how does that make you feel?" Daniel smiled, completely in awe of her. "Thank you, Betty. I guess I am proud of how well we've managed MODE."

She smiled. "Daniel, you don't give yourself enough credit." He looked at her intently. "You don't either, Betty." he took a bite of the cinnamon bread and looked at her "This is DELICIOUS!" he said with a grin.

Betty smiled rolling her eyes. "You're crazy!"

"The only thing I'm crazy about is you" he whispered then taking a sip of his coffee. "What?"

"What?"

"What did you say?" she asked thinking she lost her mind. "Nothing...I said...I don't remember what I said."

"Now, I'm not going to share the cookie with you" she said teasingly. "What? There's a cookie?" he asked his eyes bright. "Yes, and you're not getting any."

He frowned "Well, that's not fair. I have to tell you Betty, that cookie will make me feel _very _happy."

"Well, that's too bad isn't it?" she said mockingly. "Alright Betty, playing games with me, huh? That's ok. I don't really want your lame cookie. It probably tastes awful. Maybe you even poisoned it. So, you know what? I don't want that cookie anymore."

Betty laughed. "Fine with me! I get more cookie!" she said playing along. Daniel sighed "Alright, Betty! Come on, I want some of the cookie, too."

Betty laughed "You're such a child, Daniel."

"This child wants some of the cookie!" he said jokingly. Betty rolled her eyes and took out the cookie from the bag and broke it in half. Just when she was going to hand him his half she pulled it back to her. "What are you going to give me for sharing the cookie?" she asked looking at him. He raised his eyebrow "hmm...well, what do you want?"

She looked away for a moment and back to him "I want you to say something nice to me." She said with a sweet smile.

"Well...Like what? Like something that will make you feel nice or that is just randomly nice?"

"Surprise me!" she said with a spark in her eyes. He looked at her for a moment looking at her brown eyes and then the smile that was on her face...that sweet loving smile. He felt his heart race just looking at her. He smiled.

"I think you are beautiful" he said sincerely looking at her eyes. Betty looked at him for a moment and then smiled. "That deserves a cookie and a hug." He smiled taking the cookie from her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face to her and planted a big kiss on his cheek. His eyes got big in surprise, a wide smile on his face.

"So, I thought I was getting a hug, but I end up getting a kiss. That's nice." He said as she let go of him "yes, well, you made me feel _very_ nice, Daniel." She smiled looking into his eyes...those really blue eyes. He smiled "I'm glad I could make you feel that way. You really are beautiful."

Betty felt her heart race...yet again. She focused her attention to the coffee in front of her. "So, uh...thank you for the cookie and the note you sent me" she smiled and looked at him to see a pleased grin on his face.

"You saw Ashley and her husband yesterday?" she asked curiously taking a sip from Daniel's coffee without realizing it. He smiled noticing "I did; her husband is a really great guy. His name's Eric. They really missed you."

"Aw really?"

"They both asked about you, when they didn't see you with me. I told them you were at work."

"That was so sweet of Ashley to make that cookie for me...and you." She smiled looking at his eyes. Daniel glanced at her with a smile. "They're so nice."

"They knew each other since they were in high school and then when they were in college, one night after one of her dates with her boyfriend at the time, her husband went to her apartment and basically told her he loved her, and now...I think...it speaks for itself."

"Oh wow...that's so sweet!" Betty said in admiration. Daniel smiled. Betty stared at Daniel's face for a minute. She couldn't believe she had such a wonderful friend who was genuinely happy for her and what she was doing. "What are you thinking?" he asked curiously noticing the look in her eyes and the smile on her face. She met his eyes and smiled "I was thinking how wonderful you are."

"Me?" he asked surprised. "Yes, you. Seeing your note to me yesterday and that cookie made my day, Daniel"

Daniel smiled. "You deserve it, Betty. I am truly so proud of you." Before she could even explain what happened, tears were falling along her face. "What's the matter?" he asked concerned. "Thank you" she said softly.

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"I'm sorry" she wiped her face "I don't know why I started crying." She looked away from him. He took her hand in his "Betty..."

She turned her face to look at him. He just smiled. "I want to see that smile." She smiled. "There we go!" he laughed. Betty looked at his eyes and pulled him to her for a long hug. "You always inspire me." She said softly to him. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer to him feeling his heart race uncontrollably. "That's because _you_ inspire _me_, Betty." Betty had been hugging him for a minute just taking in the warm silence and embrace. She realized she was probably hugging him too long. She pulled away from him and looked down embarrassed. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean...I just..." she looked at his eyes. "Thank you"

"Betty, enough of this. I'm here to make you happy, not make you cry!" he laughed making Betty laugh.

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AN: awwwwww :) ahahahhaa I'm a dork! oh well.


	17. Daydreams, Ice cream and Flying Pillows

**Think of The Firefly**

_**Thanks again for your reviews! they were sweet like Daniel :) hehe Alrighty here is the next chapter that goes along with the previous one! ok so this one is MY FAVE up until now! lol :P Hope you like it too! :) :) Oh yay I'm so excited to finally get this one up! hahaha**_

_**For entertainment only! :P **_

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**Chapter 17**

**Daydreams, Ice cream and Flying Pillows**

Betty smiled looking at him. "Thank you." Daniel took one look at her and smiled. He didn't know how to explain how he felt just seeing her and her beautiful smile in front of him looking so lovely in her dress, and her beautiful hair just resting along her shoulders and flowing to the back. He held her hand and looked at her eyes. When she smiled looking at his eyes, he reached forward and grabbed her face bringer her closer to kiss her beautiful mouth. He couldn't explain how right he felt. He felt his heart race and that inexplicable feeling he got every time he was near her. When he felt Betty respond and pull him closer, he wrapped his arms around her waist bringer her closer to him. Without breaking the kiss, the next minute he was leading her to the bed and kissing her all over her face and neck. He looked at her eyes and held her face. "Betty, I'm in love with you"

Betty's eyes got bright and he couldn't explain how he felt. "Really?" He nodded and with that Betty kissed him passionately bringing him closer to her on the bed. Daniel felt a pinch, next thing he knows his arm slips from the table and he hits his head on the edge of the table. "Oh my God, Daniel!" Betty said snapping him out of his daydream. "Are you ok?" she asked holding his face and seeing the slight cut on his forehead.

"Oh goodness." She took his hand and led him to the bathroom. "What happened? I didn't think if I pinched you would hit your head. Are you ok?" she asked concerned holding his face and cleaning the cut. "What happened?" he asked confused.

"You tell me" she laughed. "I see you staring at me and then I try to talk to you and you ignored me or something, so I pinched you to see if you were still alive" she said laughing. "Next thing I know, your hand slips and your head hits the table. I'm so sorry." He just looked at her as she helped him.

"What were you thinking about?" Betty asked wonderingly.

Daniel's face turned a shade of red she had never seen before. He laughed at himself, thinking only this woman that was right in front of him could make him look like such an idiot just thinking about her. "What are you laughing about?" she asked looking at his face as she placed the bandage on his cut. He was sitting in a chair, making Betty taller than him. He looked up at her. "I'm just thinking how insane I act when I'm around you, Betty." She looked at him with a smile.

He smiled. "Thanks..." He noticed Betty's hand was holding the side of his face. If he could have turned into dust right then he would have. Her soft hands just sent a warmth through him he couldn't quite explain. She smiled and removed her hand as if able to read his thoughts. "So, you ok, now?" she asked with an amused smile.

He nodded smiling and stood up. Betty shook her head in amusement and they walked out back into the room. "So, what do you want to do?" he asked turning and standing in front of her. A mischievous light came to her eyes. "Oh...what's that look? You're planning something. I know that look." He said cautiously. Betty giggled. "You will see later...mister insane." She giggled again.

Hours later there were cards, board games and ice cream bowls all over the room. Betty was on her stomach, her legs bending behind her looking up at Daniel as he lied on the bed looking at her upside down. She giggled and threw a candy wrapper at his face. "Hey!" he said scolding. She giggled again. "We should order some more ice cream" Betty said cheerfully. "Betty, we just ordered ice cream three times...I think you've had enough."

Betty giggled again. "What is that like your equivalent to drinking or something?" he laughed noticing her incessant giggling and silliness. "Maybe" she laughed. He laughed rolling on the bed, bringing his hands under his face. Betty smiled mischievously. "What now?" he asked noticing the smile.

She stood up and came next to Daniel picking him up from the bed. He looked at her curiously. She giggled again making Daniel laugh, and then jumped up on the bed so she was standing on it. She pulled him up next to her and started jumping, her dress moving along with her. When she twirled around while jumping, her dress twirled with her. He laughed "Oh God, Betty" he laughed again thinking she was so incredibly cute. He started jumping with her, thinking they were probably the goofiest adults that ever stayed at a hotel together. After about half a minute of jumping, Daniel feels a pillow smack him across his legs.

"Hey!" he said loudly and stopped jumping.

She laughed uncontrollably and jumped off the bed. He laughed picking up a pillow and chased her across the room trying to hit her with his pillow. Betty laughed and hit him in the stomach. He hit across her midsection and then her back as she turned. They both laughed.

"Betty, you are crazy" If he wasn't already in love with her, he would have for sure fallen in love with her now. He smiled and chased her across the room, with her laughing again. He couldn't take it. The laughing was the end of him. She ran over in the direction of the bed and he chased after her capturing her and falling over her as she fell back. She giggled as she fell back, trying to catch her breath. And there she was right under Daniel, his arms placed next to her face. He could easily kiss her right now. He wanted to so bad. Before he knew it she smiled wickedly and a pillow came flying across his face. She laughed hysterically. Daniel just sprawled on the bed next to Betty. He turned his face to look at her and that beautiful smile. "You are so amazing, Betty. God, I've never had so much fun with a girl in my bedroom before." He paused for a moment thinking she was going to come back with some raunchy comment about how he slept with tons of women, but she didn't. She just smiled brighter and said "I've never had so much fun with _anyone_ before"

Daniel sent her a huge mega-watt smile that made his eyes just as bright. "Actually, same here" She was still trying to catch her breath, her chest rising and falling. Daniel wondered if her heart was beating just as fast as his was. He held her hand. She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Maybe we should order some food later" he said looking at her. "Okay" Betty said simply.

"What are you thinking?" Daniel asked looking at the ceiling, just as Betty was. "How incredible you are" Betty said. "What?" he asked surprised and turned his face to her. She remained looking at the ceiling. "Daniel, I've never had so much fun with anyone. I can't believe how awesome my best friend is."

Daniel smiled brightly. "Betty, I feel the same exact way about you."

Betty smiled. "Thanks." They remained silent for a while, when Daniel noticed that Betty actually fell asleep. He propped himself on his elbow and smiled watching her. He wanted to touch her face so bad. Instead he moved the hair that was in her face and pushed it to the side. He never felt so right to be with anyone before. Betty turned slightly so she was on her side. A few seconds later she was closer to him and had her arm around him. Daniel smiled and held her closer, his arm around her midsection. He just closed his eyes and slept for the next two hours the best he'd slept since he came to Tucson. Daniel woke up and noticed Betty was still sleeping. She looked so peaceful he thought. Daniel couldn't help it, he kissed her soft cheek. Betty held him tighter and mumbled "mmm...I love you"

Daniel's eyes got so big; he thought he could probably see the entire world with them. He sat up. "Betty..." he tapped her shoulder. "Hmm?"

"Betty...please wake up."

"Daniel?" she said sleepily. "I'm sleepy..." Daniel smiled thinking she sounded so cute. He just lied back down and put his arm around her. "I love you, too" he said quietly, kissing her cheek again, and closed his eyes. It was a couple of hours later that Daniel started to wake up again after hearing a bang and clanking sound. He opened his eyes to see Betty with a cart of food. He assumed she rolled it and it banged against the table. She noticed him and walked over. "Hey sleepy head...I ordered us some food." She said with a smile. He smiled and sat up. "You're the sleepy head. I actually woke up, but then you said you were sleepy and I just fell asleep again."

She laughed. "Okay, we're both sleepy heads. Let's eat" she said holding her hand out to him. He grabbed it and she pulled him off the bed. They both ended up sitting on the bed with their food and watching a movie. They sat so close together, anyone who would see them would think they were a couple, but that was just their thing. They were Betty and Daniel...just close like that. It was 9:30 when Betty got a call from Henry wondering where she was. She hadn't even realized it was that late already. She explained to him how she was hanging out with Daniel and forgot about time, she could tell by the sound of his voice that he wasn't all that thrilled.

"Everything okay?" Daniel asked as she got off the phone. "I think Henry is mad at me."

"What? Why?"

She just looked at him with sad eyes. "Because of me?" he asked sadly. Daniel felt his heart drop. "That's ok, Betty. Maybe we should lay off hanging out with each other for a bit." He said sadly feeling like his breath was escaping him. "No, Daniel. You're here to visit me. Who knows how long it will be before I see you again when you leave" she said with sadness in her eyes.

"But Betty..."

"Daniel, it's fine. Please." She said her eyes pleading with him. She walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "I don't want you to leave me yet" she said almost on the verge of tears. Daniel brought his arms around her "I'd never leave you, Betty. You're my best friend. Even when I leave, we'll still be us!" Betty pulled away from him to look at his face and smiled. He smiled looking at her.

"I guess I should go" she said letting go of him. "Yeah" he said reluctantly. Today had been the most fun and content day he'd possibly ever had up to this point. He loved Betty and just wanted her to be happy no matter what. "Thanks for coming today, Betty. Today was awesome!" he said with a bright smile.

Betty smiled "It really was, wasn't it?" she said smiling equally bright. She got her bag and stood by the door. Daniel walking her to it, he held the door open. Betty lingered there for a minute looking at him. She smiled. "Good night, Daniel."

"Good night, Betty. Text me when you get home, so I know you got home safely." Betty nodded and walked away. Daniel watched her walk down the hall and then he walked in to his room falling on the bed. He waited until Betty got home and texted him that she was home and safe. He tried to sleep, but couldn't. He ended up just staying up staring at the ceiling again. Around midnight he got a text from Betty telling him that everything was ok with her and Henry. He smiled and replied that he was glad. Of course he wanted her to be happy...but part of him wished everything wasn't ok with them. He hated himself for even thinking that. He quickly pushed that thought away. He wanted to be happy for Betty no matter what.

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AN: ahhhh! LOL :) I will probably have the next chapter up tomorrow night, because I have to tweek it a bit and change some things and make it a tad bit longer. As soon as I get it fixed, I'll upload it! :) :) Thanks again for reading! Hope you continue to enjoy it! :P


	18. Ready for Adventure

**Think of The Firefly**

_**I really want to thank you all for your wonderful comments! :) I like to know what you like! You are lucky that I finished this chapter earlier than I thought, but because of this one being finished quicker the next one will either be up tomorrow night or the day after. Anyways, hope you continue to enjoy it! :P **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

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**Chapter 18**

**Ready for Adventure**

_Day 5 of Daniel being in Tucson _

Betty had spent the morning having breakfast and talking with Henry, since he went to work later. It was nice to actually talk to your boyfriend once in a while. She just always felt so distant from him, especially since she came to Tucson, even when they were together. She was now on her way to see if Daniel was at his hotel to actually take him to explore Tucson with her. She was kind of excited that this would be her first time actually exploring Tucson, too. It was definitely better to explore with a friend then alone.

When Betty got to Daniel's hotel, she walked up to the check-in desk and asked if he was in, instead the man at the desk gave her a key card.

"What's this?" She asked confused.

"Mr. Meade requested that we give you a key card whenever you come."

"Oh...okay" she smiled, somewhat surprised. "Thank you" She said and made her way to Daniel's room. She slid the card and opened the door quietly to see him sleeping. She put her things on the chair and walked over thinking he looked so sweet. She loved how boyish he looked when he was sleeping. She couldn't deny how adorable she found him. She came to his side and touched his arm lightly "Daniel..."

Before she even knew what happened, he had grabbed her and pulled her down to him "Hey princess."

Betty's eyes got big in surprise. She looked at him but saw that he was still sleeping. Was he having a dream about her, Betty thought curiously. She lied there next to him, his arms around her. She giggled slightly thinking he was so cute. She brought her hand to his cheek. Daniel opened his eyes; when he saw those big brown eyes looking at him, his eyes got huge in surprise "Betty?"

Betty giggled. "Morning"

"What...are you doing here?" he asked confused. "I came to see you, silly." He saw that his hands were around her; he moved them and sat up. "Uh...how long were you here?" he asked curiously. She remained lying down, but turned so she was looking at the ceiling. "Long enough" she giggled and then sat up looking at him. "Were you having a dream about me?" she asked looking at his eyes, a smile on her face and giggled again. He smiled at her giggling. "Uh...I was having a dream that I was at your wedding...and uh...I was hugging you..." he said leaving out the fact that he was the man she got married to.

"Oh...that explains it... So, you were at my wedding huh?"

"Yes...you looked very beautiful...like a princess" he said sounding like a young boy.

"Really?" she asked her eyes lighting up. "You had on this really beautiful white dress. You looked amazing, Betty."

"Aww..." she smiled looking at him. He smiled watching her facial expressions. "Was Henry there?" she asked curiously. "Uh...he was there." He said leaving out the detail of him just being a guest. "Okay. Was I happy?" she asked looking at his eyes. He didn't know why, but he froze. He didn't know what to say. Of course she was happy in his dream because she was marrying him, but if he told her she was happy, she would assume he meant with Henry. He knew he had to phrase this delicately not to give her mixed messages. "Uh...well, you were happy with _me_." He said smiling brightly. She smiled back just as bright. She leaned over and hugged him. "What's the hug for?" he asked curiously.

"For making me happy...and telling me I'm beautiful." She said her head against his chest. "I'd do anything to make you happy Betty...and you are beautiful." He felt her arms hold him tighter. He smiled loving the closeness. He wished he could always be this close to Betty.

She pulled away from him and looked at him pulling him off the bed. "Ok, you get dressed because we are having lunch and then I'm taking you on an adventure."

"An adventure?" he asked excitedly. "Yes!" she said with a smile. He stood in front of her for a minute thinking she looked so pretty; the light pink dress she was wearing looked so lovely on her. He felt his heart race. "What?" Betty looked at him strangely.

"Oh...uh...I was just thinking how pretty you look in that pink, Betty." Betty looked at him, a smile on her face. "Thank you. I have to admit Daniel, I'm kind of glad you didn't listen to me about taking the dresses back. They're so pretty and make me feel pretty...and you make me feel pretty, too." She said looking at his eyes. Daniel smiled. "I knew you would forgive me eventually" he said with a grin.

Betty rolled her eyes and pushed him into the restroom "Go, get dressed"

Daniel laughed "Okay..."

About 15 minutes later he walked out of the restroom in a nice red button-down shirt and jeans. He looked at Betty as she was standing by the window. He walked slowly behind her and grabbed her waist. She jumped "Daniel!" she smacked him on his shoulder. "Oww... I guess I deserve that." He laughed. She just smiled and shook her head. "I like your boots, Betty." he said noticing her black boots that nicely accented the black belt around her waist. "Thanks. Now, are you finally ready?" she asked impatiently. He laughed. "Yes, ma'am."

"You look nice..." she was standing close enough to him to smell his cologne. "Oo and you smell nice." She said standing closer to him. A boyish grin came to his face. She looked to his face smiling, and then saw the bandage. "How's your head?"

"It's good" he said simply, picking up his watch from the table. She smiled. "Good."

He looked at her with a smirk. "If you kiss it, it will make it better, though" he said with a boyish grin. Betty rolled her eyes shaking her head, a smile on her face. Daniel smiled and went back to his watch clipping it when Betty brought her hands to the sides of his head pulling him closer and kissed where the bandage was. Daniel's eyes got big in surprise at the all too quick gesture. "All better?" She asked smiling. Daniel nodded speechless. Betty started walking to the door. Daniel let out a breath bringing his hand to his heart following her. _She will be the death of me_, he thought to himself. Betty was his sweet torture.

"Ok, so where are we going?" he asked when they were on the elevator.

"It's a surprise. First, lunch" she said with a bright smile.

"Okay" he said smiling still trying to calm his heart rate from that kiss. It was so soft. He was sure if he took the bandage off it really would be all better. Her touch made his skin tingle. God, just her looking at him made his heart soar. _Ugh, Betty, Betty, Betty!_

"What?" she said looking at him

Daniel looked at her. "What?" he asked, not knowing what happened

"Uh...you just said my name three times." She looked at him with a confused face.

_Shit! What do I say?_ "Oh, uh...I guess I was um...wondering where we were going today. I didn't realize I said your name out loud." _Oh crap, like saying that is any better._ "I was asking you in my mind." _Stop talking now Meade! _

Betty looked at him curiously. "Uh...okay. Well, I already told you it's a surprise, so you'll just have to wait and see" she said with a smirk.

"Okay" Daniel let out a breath and leaned along the wall. _Why was this elevator taking so damn long?_

A few seconds later..._ Ding! _

_Thank God!_ Daniel sighed in relief as they stepped out. As they walked out Betty stole a glance at him thinking he was acting funny today. He was Daniel. He was bound to act weird sometimes.

They made their way to the café close to Henry's work. Betty figured maybe she would stop by and say hi to Henry. "Daniel, do you think we can just go say hi to Henry before we go to lunch?"

"Sure, Betty." As they were making their way, Betty got a call from Henry. "Hi, Henry."

"Hey Betty... I'm on lunch break and I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch with me."

"Okay! Actually, Daniel and I are heading to lunch, so that's great." She said with a smile. "Oh...uh...okay."

"It's fine, I was actually coming to surprise you at your office, but you ended up calling. So, I guess, I'll see you soon, then?" she said turning and pulling Daniel along in the opposite direction back to the café. "I'll be there in five minutes. Bye"

"Alright, see you"

"So, what happened?" Daniel asked curiously. "Henry is meeting us for lunch."

"Okay...that's good. That way you'll spend some time with him."

"Ya..." she said distantly. She didn't know why but she felt bad, she didn't even know what she felt bad about. "You ok?" he asked curiously noticing her change in attitude. "I was just thinking after our little adventure, I need to try and get some work done."

"Oh...right...I'll help you if you want."

"Thanks, but I think I will just go home after and work on stuff alone for a while." Daniel glanced at her, searching her face. "Ok" he responded hesitantly. He didn't know what it was, but he could tell something was bothering her.

They walked up to the café and just when they did, the same old couple they saw a couple of days ago walked out just as Daniel opened the door with a smile. They smiled at him and walked away. Betty smiled waiting for Daniel and walked in sitting at a booth since Henry would be joining them. She didn't even realize it, but she instinctively slid in next to Daniel. She thought she probably should be sitting next to Henry...her boyfriend...the man she moved to Tucson to be with, but for some reason she just couldn't find herself moving. Henry ended up coming in two minutes later. Noticing them, he walked over. Betty stood up to greet him with a kiss on the cheek. "Hi"

"Hey Betty. Daniel"

Daniel nodded in acknowledgement sending him a warm smile. "So..." there was an awkward silence, which Daniel filled by saying "You know the coffee here is really good." He said trying to lighten the mood. He felt like he should leave. He wondered why there was this odd tension. "Umm...Betty, can you please slide out, I need to go make a phone call."

She looked at him "Oh...okay" she slid out "Who are you calling?" she asked wonderingly.

"Uh...Alexis...I'm just going to check on things at MODE. I'll be back in a few minutes." He shot her a warm smile and walked out. He took a deep breath and leaned against the brick wall as he stepped out.

If there was one thing Betty knew about Daniel, it was when he was lying. She knew he probably felt like he should leave. She felt bad, but decided she should try and lighten the mood. "So, I was actually coming to surprise you" Betty said looking at him. Henry smiled. "That would have definitely been a nice surprise" he smiled leaning over the table and kissed her. Betty smiled. "So, Henry, maybe we could do something together soon. Do you have any day off or something? Even getting off work early?"

"Betty, actually, I think I might have a couple of days next week when I get off work early. And I would love to spend time with you" he held her hand that was on the table. "So, maybe we could order that lunch now?" she said with a playful grin. He laughed. "Of course" They ordered lunch, Betty making sure to order something for Daniel.

About seven minutes later Daniel walked back in noticing Henry sitting in the section next to Betty hugging her to him and kissing her cheek. A mixture of emotions flooded him. Part of him felt jealous that he was touching her, putting his hands on her beautiful skin; and the other part of him was so happy to see that beautiful smile on her face. He took a deep breath and walked over. "Hey you two" Henry and Betty looked up at him as he slid in across from them. Betty met his eyes.

"So, Alexis said everything at MODE was going well." He really had no idea what was going on at MODE, and he was pretty sure that Betty could see right through him. He really wanted to just hide under the table right now. "I ordered your food" Betty said with a light smile. Daniel smiled. "Thanks"

"So, Betty, how did your work go?" Henry asked curiously. A light in Betty's eyes came as she turned to look at him. Daniel knew the fact that Henry asked about her work meant a lot to her. "It's going great. I still need to find a lot more people, but so far my team is wonderful... and not to mention my inspiration keeps me going." She looked to Daniel as she added that part. A smile swept his face as he pretended to look at the folded up coffee menu in front of him. Henry glanced at Daniel and back to Betty. "That's great, Betty. So, when is this big event?" he asked curiously.

"In about a week and two days." Betty said suddenly feeling panicked at the thought of it being so soon. She removed her hands from Henry's and leaned back in her seat. Daniel looked up at her, knowing that she was overwhelmed, and felt the pressure build up.

"Don't worry, Betty" Daniel said reassuringly. "You'll get everything done. And I'm sure it will all turn out perfectly." Betty smiled looking at him. Henry took her hand in his, a smile on his face. "Ya and Betty you remember how well the last Fashion Week turned out. And that had a lot to do with you." Betty smiled looking at him. He kissed her hand sweetly.

Betty looked to both of them. "Thank you. Okay, I can do this!" she said positively. "Yeah! There we go!" Daniel said excitedly. Betty laughed at his excitement.

Daniel held up his hands for her to slap. She laughed again and slapped them. Henry and Daniel both smiled because she felt better. The waiter came bringing their food. Betty's eyes met Daniel's, a smile on her face. She mouthed 'thank you' to him. Daniel smiled nodding his head in acknowledgement.

They all had their lunch, with no awkwardness, which Daniel was extremely grateful for. Every now and then he just looked at his plate playing with his food, and Betty looked at him a couple of times in slight concern, but he smiled and went back to conversation. They all actually got along fairly well together, despite Daniel's burgeoning affection towards Betty and her current relationship. They finished their lunch, Henry heading back to work and Daniel and Betty ready to be on their way to the so-called adventure she was planning.

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AN: I'll try and finish the next part as quick as I can! :P Hope you enjoyed it!


	19. Exploring the Great Southwest

**Think of The Firefly**

_**AN: I really don't know if this was a good chapter. I had a crazy week having to deal with financial aid crap for school, and my first week of classes. Hope it's not too bad. **_

_**For entertainment only! :P**_

_**Also, I just want to say thank you for your reviews! they rock! :) :) Thanks again! **_

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**Chapter 19**

**Exploring the Great Southwest **

Betty and Daniel were in a cab headed to the location of their adventure. Betty gave the address and they were soon dropped off.

"Where are we?" Daniel asked curiously. "We're going to this place called Seven Falls, it's supposed to be the place to see here."

"Okay. It sounds kind of cool."

"Good, because we have to hike there" she said matter-of-factly and walked ahead of him. "What?" he quickly followed her "Betty, how far is it?" he asked not sure he would be able to last long. "Seven miles. It should only take 3-4 hours total."

"What?" Daniel's eyes bugged out.

"Oh Daniel, come on. Have a sense of adventure! It's supposed to be really amazing. It's pretty much a waterfall in the desert and there are streams and great scenery along the way." She said looking back at him. He narrowed his eyes unsure. She walked up to him "Please" she asked her eyes looking like almost-black jewels. He really couldn't argue with her looking so adorable right now. "Oh, alright. You can't say I never did anything for you."

"Right, because I CAN say that anyway, Daniel?" she said sarcastically. "Seriously, you do too much for me."

"Well, I can't really help it." he said looking down at his feet. Betty smiled grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

They made their way, Betty getting them water and waiting for the other small group that was walking with them. Daniel leaned next to her. "I bet these kids will make me look like a loser." He whispered next to her noticing the family that was accompanying them with two kids, a boy about 10 and a girl a little younger. They both had brown hair; the boy had cute freckles on his face and the girl's hair was tied in pigtails.

Betty giggled. "Are you scared those kids will show you up, old man?" She teased him knowing how sensitive his ego was. He shoved her shoulder playfully. Betty laughed. "You'll be fine, Daniel. You're in great shape."

"Sure, but fourteen miles total is a lot."

"I don't think you'll even notice it, Daniel."

"Alright princess. Whatever you say, smarty pants" He said with a grin.

Betty shook her head. "I'm not wearing pants, Daniel" she joked. "Shut-up" he pushed her again making her laugh. Daniel laughed running his hand along his face.

* * *

They had been walking for half an hour, Daniel actually enjoying it somewhat. Betty got more and more excited as they continued their 'adventure'. Betty ran up behind him and pushed him, but grabbing him so he wouldn't fall "Betty!" Daniel shouted. Betty giggled as she hooked her arm with his. Daniel shook his head. "You're insane."

"Isn't this nice?" she asked looking up at him, her eyes bright through her glasses, her bangs in front of her face. He smiled thinking she was so cute. How could he not find it nice being with her? He didn't care where he was, if Betty was there, it was nice. "Yes, it's nice." He said with a smile.

Betty smiled. "I told you." Daniel shook his head and looked to her. A big grin was on her face. He just smiled and they kept walking.

About twenty minutes later they were crossing one of the many streams along the way. Betty hopped on the rocks. Daniel laughed at her. The two kids that were with them copied Betty. When they got to the edge Betty looked back to him. "Come on, Daniel!" Betty cheered him on to copy them. She had an entertained smile on her face. The parents that were with the kids were laughing and just walking along happily. Daniel shook his head. He noticed Betty lean next to the boy and say something to him. He snickered. "Ha-ha, you're old!" He said mockingly. Daniel's eyes got big. He looked to Betty and rolled his eyes. Betty was laughing hysterically. He knew she was trying to challenge him. "Bet you can't do it anyway" the boy egged him on. "You'll probably fall and break your hip." He could hear Betty's fit of giggles.

The 8 year old girl hopped back over to Daniel and took his hand in hers and hopped. Daniel laughed. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes and her cute pigtails and he couldn't really not respond to her cute smile. He hopped with her. She giggled and hopped again. Her giggle made Daniel's heart feel like it was smiling. Daniel hopped again. They started hopping together and laughing.

When they made their way over to the others, Betty had a bright smile on her face and the parents seemed to be pleased that their kids were having fun. Betty and the boy cheered. "Yay!" Betty had her hands up. Daniel laughed and slapped them, but when he was about to drop his hands back Betty held them, their fingers interlocked. "Now wasn't that fun?" she asked with a grin.

Daniel smiled. "Everything is fun with you."

She smiled looking at his eyes. Daniel brought her hands down, bringing them around him and hugged her. Betty felt butterflies. It felt so nice to have his arms around her.

* * *

They continued on their journey, enjoying the scenery along the way, the kids holding Daniel's hand and walking with him. Betty walked behind and near the parents. She smiled thinking the whole scene was so cute. She sort of forgot about everything around her, including where they were headed and just found him more interesting.

After a while Betty was walking across some rocks that were slippery from the flowing stream. As she stepped on, her foot slipped, and just as she was about to fall forward Daniel reached forward catching her before she fell. She looked up at him not even knowing how he saw her. She thought he was much farther ahead. He pulled her to him, his hand resting on her back. "Be careful" he said calmly although she could see the intensity in his eyes. She nodded her head and they continued walking along. She felt like was in a daze for a while, but shook herself out of it eventually. When they made it to the waterfalls everyone's eyes lit up. The canyon was tiered; the water fell along the rocks like a staircase. The kids immediately ran towards the water, but their parents yelled at them to be careful. Daniel and Betty sat on the rocks for a while in silence just taking in their surroundings. She turned to him, a smile on her face. Daniel smiled and looked to her. "Isn't it cool?" she asked with a smirk. "It's very cool."

"It's nice over here." She said looking at the 7-tiered waterfall. Daniel just watched her eyes. "You make it nice" he said not realizing he said it aloud. Betty turned her face to him, blushing.

Daniel felt his heart race. "We should climb up the mountain." She said looking back at it. "I wish I planned this better" She added noticing the kids swimming in the natural pool of water at the bottom the falls.

"What?" he asked confused. "We could swim if we brought swimming clothes."

"Oh. Do you know how to swim?" he asked thinking that she couldn't. "No."

He looked at her amused. "Then how would you swim?" She laughed. "I don't know." He laughed. "I guess I could have taught you"

Now Betty really wished she did planned better. She got up "Come on"

"Where we going?" he asked getting up. "If we can't swim, we're at least climbing"

"Ok" he followed her. At the edge, Betty took her hair-tie around her wrist and pulled her hair up into a pony tail. Daniel thought she looked cute; and despite her wearing a dress she looked athletic. They started climbing, Daniel following behind. As they got higher, Daniel somehow ended up slightly higher than Betty. It got a little harder as they went higher up. When they got to the third tier they had to step across the water to get to the other side. They climbed up a little higher; just as Daniel made it up, Betty stepped on a rock that crumbled under her step and made her slip. Daniel looked back and caught her hand just as she lost her grip. She looked at him, her heart racing a little. "You caught me" she said somewhat surprised.

"I'll always catch you" he said simply.

She smiled thankfully. "And besides, I wouldn't want my best friend to get hurt." He pulled her up holding her close. She smiled "thanks" she felt butterflies for some reason. He held her hand keeping her close to him. They looked on the view thinking it looked awesome, the water flowing through the rocks and the view of the desert from that height was cool. They stood there for a few minutes, but then sat along the edge just enjoying the coolness of the water in the air.

After some time they headed back down ending up on the side where there were larger gaps between the tiers. Daniel was standing on the last one as Betty started to climb down; she slipped and fell dropping twelve feet into the water.

"Betty!" Daniel dived in after her knowing that she couldn't swim.

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AN: Hope it was ok. I'll have the next part up tomorrow, hopefully. I have to work till midnight, but I'll try and get it up if not it will be up Tuesday night. Thanks for reading. Hope you continue to enjoy it. I have the next parts mostly written :)


	20. I Don't Like This Adventure Anymore

**Think of The Firefly**

**_Hi! :) Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I was so iffy about it, but thanks for your comments. They were very encouraging. And thank you. my classes are going well so far! :) Yay! :P _****  
**

**_Here is the next part! I honestly didn't go in depth with thoughts in this for a reason, because I felt like the actions were speaking loud enough to know what they were feeling, particularly Betty. Hope you enjoy it! :P I'll try and have the next part up tonight! :) _**

**_For entertainment only! :P_**

* * *

**Chapter 20**

**Don't Like This Adventure Anymore**

Daniel didn't think twice. He dove in after Betty. It wasn't that deep, maybe six or seven feet, but deep enough for someone who couldn't swim. His hand came around her waist pulling her up with him. When they came up Betty gasped for air coughing from the water that caught in her throat. When Daniel swam over to the edge the father grabbed his hand pulling him up to the edge and helped Betty out. Daniel couldn't tell you how it happened. It seemed as though everything was a blur, occurring so fast it was unfathomable to comprehend at the moment. Daniel looked at her trying to catch his breath making sure she was okay and breathing.

Betty opened her eyes slowly. She felt like she was in a daze, her heart racing, her breathing somewhat labored. The only thing she saw was blue sparkling orbs looking into hers. Daniel had been kneeling over her checking to see if she was ok. Her chest was rising and falling trying to catch her breath, as his blue eyes looked into hers filled with such concern that it brought tears to her eyes. A few tears trickled along her face. Daniel's hand moved the strands of wet hair in front of her face and gently kissed her forehead. Looking at her eyes, his lips very slowly met hers in a sweet gentle kiss. She felt her heart flutter and butterflies flow through her body. She could taste the sweet water of the river on his lips. Her hand made its way to the side of his face and through his wet hair, her other hand gripping his shoulder holding him a little closer. When his lips left hers, they planted another soft kiss on her forehead giving her butterflies from his light touch. Suddenly she heard a voice calling.

"Betty! Betty, please wake up!" His voice panicked snapping her out of her thoughts. When she opened her eyes she saw Daniel's eyes and a few other pairs of eyes looking at her in concern. The girl's arm was around Daniel's neck holding on to him looking at her. Betty felt tears escape her eyes. The look in his eyes was too much. "Betty, what's wrong?" Daniel asked in panic noticing the tears sliding down her face. "God, are you ok? Are you hurt?" he asked worriedly bringing his hand to her head and his other hand along her arm. "I'm fine. I'm fine...I'm ok. Really" She said quietly looking at his eyes. She felt another tear escape her eye noticing the deep worry in his eyes. "I'm sorry." She said apologetically feeling like everything she did caused someone pain.

"Alright, ok, come on" Daniel said nervously taking her hand in his and his other hand moving around her waist to help her up. "You sure you're ok?" he asked looking at her as they got up, his arm securely around her waist. "Uh-huh"

The father put a jacket around Betty. Daniel didn't understand why he would have a jacket in this hot place, but he didn't care at the moment. "We can come with you. It's probably not a good idea for you both to go alone." "We don't want to ruin your trip." Daniel said regretfully. "Not at all, we'll join you." The family got their things and accompanied them back.

They all continued walking, Betty trying really hard to suppress the tears she felt threatening to surface, and push away the pain she felt in her knee not wanting to cause Daniel any more worry. Daniel glanced at Betty and could see the tears in her eyes. He knew her too well. He swooped his free hand under her knees and lifted her swiftly. "Daniel, what are you doing? I can walk." She said lying through her teeth.

"Betty, just let me carry you. I know you're probably lying to me that you're okay, but I know you better than that. You probably think you telling me you're okay is not going to make me worry. You not telling me is actually making me more worried. Let me just carry you, okay?"

"It's too far, Daniel. It's nearly seven miles."

"I don't care if it's a thousand, seven, two miles or an inch, I'd still carry you." He said adamantly. Betty was somewhat shocked at his response.

"But Daniel..."

"Betty, please. Come on, just hold onto me. I won't drop you, Betty" tears were forming in her eyes again. "I know" she said knowing that was true. She wrapped her arms around his neck burying her face in his wet chest. After a while of walking, Daniel was beginning to get tired. He looked to the others and noticed how quiet they all were. He was actually grateful that they came, because he was sure he would have gotten lost without them.

Betty pulled away slightly to see his face. She couldn't control it, she started crying. Daniel looked at her and saw her tears; he panicked. When his eyes made contact with hers, more tears slid down her face. "I'm sorry" she said softly. "Betty, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly. Betty just wrapped her arms around his neck holding him tight and started sobbing. He walked over to a bunch of rocks and sat her on a rather smooth large rock and bent down looking at her face. Daniel looked to the father and gestured for him to give them a minute. He looked at her "Betty, why are you crying? Are you okay? Is there something that's hurting you?" he asked calmly, although inside he was worrying, his heart speeding up. "Come on, Betty, please tell me, sweetie. I won't be mad at you or anything. If something is hurting you, I need to know in case you need to go to the hospital." He said in a concerned, yet calm tone.

Her face looked so sad. It ate him up. Betty brought her hand slowly to her right knee. Although her knee was hurting that was not why she was crying. She felt beyond confused and lost and out of place. She somewhat felt disconnected from everything all the sudden. And seeing Daniel's concern over her just brought a knowing sadness to her. Daniel looked at her knee and then her eyes. "Your knee hurts? Maybe you hit it when you fell. Look, we're almost there."

Betty nodded, a tear sliding down her face. Daniel brought his hand to her face and wiped it away. "Do you want me to kiss it to make it better?" he said with a small smile. Betty managed a saddened smile. She didn't have to say anything; Daniel planted a soft kiss on her knee. "Come on" He got up and leant next to her so she could wrap her arm around him. He scooped her up again, his hand on her back and his other arm securely under her knees. "Do you want Jack (the father) to carry you, Betty? We might get there faster?" he said knowingly since the guy was actually a lot more fit than him, and could walk faster. Betty held Daniel tighter. "No, I want you" she said looking at his eyes and then away. "Okay, let's go" he continued walking. After a minute, Betty spoke. "Daniel?" he looked to her. "You okay?"

"I don't like this adventure anymore" she said sadly. Daniel looked at her and nodded in agreement. She leant against him again. Daniel kept glancing at her every now and then. He felt somewhat helpless for some reason, but tried not to think about it too much. He was just worried about Betty. She seemed shaken up. He wasn't sure.

They made it about fifteen minutes later, Daniel extremely spent. His back was hurting a little, but that was the last thing that he cared about at the moment. They made it to the Visitor Cabin. Daniel thanked the family for helping him. Betty was sitting in a chair, the jacket around her still wet body, watching Daniel. Her eyes never left him. Daniel was walking back over, but the young girl was walking back with him, her small hand in his, and a smile on her cute face. As they approached her, the girl let go of his hand and hugged Betty. Betty felt like crying again. She wrapped her arms around the girl.

"I'm glad you're okay" the girl said with a happy tone. "Thank you" Betty said pulling away to look at her. She smiled.

"Bye. Be safe. I like your friend." The girl said sweetly looking up at Daniel. Daniel had a happy grin on his face. Betty smiled. The girl looked to Daniel and brought him down to her and planted a kiss on his cheek. Daniel's eyes lit up. He hugged her and she went off skipping to her parents and brother. Daniel looked to Betty who was smiling, a couple of tears painting her cheeks. When he looked to her, she looked down, unable to meet his gaze at the moment.

"Do you need to go to the hospital, Betty?" he asked, although he probably knew she would say no. "No, Daniel. I'm ok. It will go away."

"I'm trusting you. If you're not better tomorrow, I'm taking you, okay?" Betty nodded and got up. Daniel put his arm around her waist and they made their way to the waiting cab.

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AN: Thanks for reading! Hope you like it! :) I really loved the last bit with the little girl :) 3


	21. Things to Make You Better

**Think of The Firefly**

**_Hi! Thanks again for your continued interest in this story! :) Hope you like this chapter! _****_Things are going to get more complicated._**

**_For entertainment only! :P_**

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**Things to Make You Better**

Daniel and Betty got in the cab waiting for them. Betty had fallen asleep on the way, so when she saw that they stopped she was somewhat confused, but she just closed her eyes again. She wasn't really sleeping; she just didn't want to see anything at the moment.

When he came back he had a rather large white paper bag. Betty opened her eyes for a moment to see Daniel. "Don't ask" he said as he got in the cab. She just looked at him curiously.

"Are you sure, you're feeling okay Betty?" he asked worriedly since she hadn't spoken since they left. It seemed as though her mind was somewhere else completely. He wasn't sure if she was still on edge from what happened or if she just was tired. He just hoped that the things he got for her would make her feel better. She just nodded and closed her eyes again. The cab started off again. Betty felt cold from the wet clothes against her body. Daniel could tell she was cold. Soon she would be at her house and she could relax.

They were dropped off twenty minutes later because Daniel urged the driver to drive faster. He just wanted to get Betty home and take care of her. Daniel got out quickly and went to her side opening the door for her.

"Betty, sweetie, we're here." He said bringing his hand to her arm gently. She opened her eyes slowly and started to get out, but Daniel helped her out.

He paid the driver and walked Betty to the door. "Do you have your key?" he asked looking at her. She reached in her pocket and handed him the key.

He quickly opened the door and walked her inside. "Hey Betty, why don't you head up and get changed and I'll be up in a minute." She nodded but stopped when she got to the stairs. She looked at him. "Daniel"

He looked to her and knew what she was asking from the look in her eyes. He came to her and took her arm putting it around his neck and then held her around her waist helping her up the stairs. He looked to her as they hobbled up the steps. He admired her face. He would do anything to protect her.

They made it upstairs and got a towel for her from the closet and helped her to her room. When they got to her room he wrapped the towel around her trying to dry her off a little. He knew she was cold. Betty watched him as he tended to her. She didn't even have to say anything. Just her looking at him, he already knew what she was asking without even having to say it. Her eyes started to become blurry. She fought it back.

He looked at her "Why don't you go take a nice shower and get into dry clothes and then you can take a nap or something." He said looking at her eyes. She nodded with a small thankful smile. He smiled patting her cheek.

Right when she was going to walk in, she looked to him. "Daniel?"

"Yes?" he turned back as he got to the door of her room.

"Can you stay until I uh...get out?" she asked looking at him almost shyly. "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're taken care of" he said looking at her eyes. Betty smiled.

Daniel went downstairs to get the things he got for Betty and his change of clothes. He was at this super-market type store, and got the first pair of jeans and shirt in his size and got Betty some soup and another something special to make her feel better. He smiled and walked back up the stairs. He changed quickly putting his wet clothes in a bag and sat in the chair in her room placing the bowl of soup on her night table and kept the other surprise in the other bag he had.

Daniel picked up Betty's phone to search for Henry's number. He put in the number on his phone and stepped out of her room to call him.

"Hello?" his voice answered on the other end. "Hi, uh Henry. This is Daniel."

"Oh. Hey. Is everything okay?" his voice asked in concern wonder clearly evident in his voice. "Uh...well sort of. Listen, Betty and I went to the mountains and well, she fell in the stream" Daniel wasn't sure what to call it "Oh God, is she alright?" Henry asked worriedly.

"Yes, she's okay. We're back at the house. I was just calling to let you know and well, I think it would be a good idea if you're here when she wakes up from her nap." Daniel said as somewhat an indirect request for him to pay attention to Betty.

"Of course. I'm actually getting off early today anyways, so I'll be on my way in half an hour."

"Okay." Daniel responded somewhat confused. If he got a call that his girlfriend nearly drowned he wouldn't think twice about being on his way whether he had work or not. He wasn't going to judge, but, he sighed, Betty deserved at least that. "Hey uh...Daniel?"

"Yes?" Daniel responded distantly. "Thanks...for being there" Henry said gratefully. "yea" he responded plainly. He knew if he said anything more it would turn into a rant about how he thought about what would happen if he wasn't there. "Ok, bye" Daniel ended the call really not wanting to talk to him anymore.

Daniel went back in the room, just as Betty walked out of her bathroom in her Minnie mouse pajamas. Daniel smiled. Betty smiled when she saw Daniel. Daniel walked over to her and placed his hand to her arm. "Nice and dry?" he said with a smirk. Betty nodded with a smile. She wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug. He smiled and held her rubbing her back.

"Alright missy, you get in that bed and get cozy, because I got you some things to make you feel better. And then I want you to rest okay?" he said pulling back to look at her. Betty nodded.

Daniel walked her over to the bed and helped her in. He gave her the soup. She smiled looking up at him. He smiled and sat in the chair next to her bed. Betty ate the soup grateful for the warmth. She had butterflies since she got home. She wished she could hug Daniel forever. He was so warm.

Daniel smiled watching her. He thought she was the most precious thing he could ever be around or see. He found it somewhat sad that she barely spoke a word, but was happy that it didn't really stop him from understanding her. She looked to him "do you want some?" she said with a small smile. Daniel smiled leaning over and placing a hand to her face "Betty, it's okay. You eat, okay?" Betty smiled somewhat dazed from the warmth she felt from his hand on her face. "Just one bite?" she said holding out the bowl to him. He smiled "Okay, how can I argue with that face?" he said and took a bite reveling in the warmth that filled him. "Thanks" he said looking at her. She smiled and continue to eat the soup.

When she finished eating the soup, she placed the bowl on the night table and looked to him. "Daniel..."

"Yes? Do you need me to get you anything?"

"No. I just want to say thank you for being here. I'm so glad you're here" she said looking at his eyes, her eyes getting blurry again. Daniel could tell that she meant more than being in her room, he knew she meant being in Tucson with her. "Me too, Betty" He sat closer to her taking her hand in his. She looked at him with sad eyes. She thought about what would happen to her if Daniel wasn't there; something could have happened to her and no one would even know. Tears inevitably slid down her face. Daniel held her face wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"I have something that will make you smile. No tears, okay?" he said with a smile. Betty smiled. He held up the blue gift bag and pulled out a brown fuzzy teddy bear that had a white shirt that had NY in red. Her eyes lit up. "Can you believe I found this?" he said with a grin. Betty smiled.

He held it out to her "This is my good friend Mr. Bear. This guy is going to be your bodyguard, so in case I'm not around he will protect you for me" Betty giggled, but felt the tears well up in her eyes. Daniel looked to Mr. Bear. "Got it, Mr. Bear? That is your only job. To protect my Betty." He made the bear's head nod in agreement. Betty laughed. Daniel held out the bear to her. "Mr. Bear, meet Betty"

Betty smiled taking it from him and hugged Daniel tightly. Daniel smiled. When he pulled away he saw the tears sliding down her face again. Her sad eyes just made his heart hurt. "Betty, sweetie, don't cry" he said sadly. With that her eyes looked even sadder. "Listen, why don't you take a nap and rest, okay?"

Betty nodded and lied down hugging the bear to her. "I'll turn out the light."

Betty looked at him "Daniel..." she started to say when he just spoke "Don't worry, I'm going to stay until you fall asleep." He said knowing what she was going to say. Betty hugged the bear tighter. "Thank you" she said softly barely able to speak.

He shut the light; when he walked back toward the chair his leg knocked against a notebook that was on the edge of the dresser and the notebook and papers spilled to the floor. "Sorry, I'll pick it up" he kneeled down to pick up the notebook and papers slipping them back in. When he stood up he noticed a small rectangular sheet of paper and bent down to pick it up. He noticed his name on it a couple of times. He very quickly slipped it in his pocket and stood back up placing the notebook back. His curiosity level was high, but he would just have to look at it later.

He walked back over to the chair and sat in lying back. Betty's eyes were closed, but he saw the wetness of her lashes and her glossy cheeks. He wondered why she was crying. He didn't think had to do with her knee.

He wondered if she thought about what might have happened to her if she was alone. He couldn't blame her for being upset. She didn't have anyone here.

The one person that should be taking care of her is a damn workaholic and always running to that stupid slut that started this mess.

Daniel closed his eyes taking in the warm silence.

A few minutes later, Betty opened her eyes and smiled seeing Daniel asleep in the chair. He looked so sweet, she thought.

She removed the cover from her and slipped out of the bed slowly still painful to move her knee. She came over to Daniel and sat on his lap placing her hand to his face.

His eyes opened slowly. "Betty?" he said drowsily. She ran her other hand through his hair and looked into his eyes. "Please don't leave me" she said quietly looking at his eyes.

"Never" he said running his hand along her arm sweetly. She leaned closer to him, somewhat shyly, looking at his eyes, and then slowly met his lips for a kiss. He brought his hand to her face deepening the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hand made its way to her waist holding her closer to him. She sank against his body feeling butterflies from how warm his kisses were.

She pulled back to look at him "I love you" she said and kissed his lips softly. "I always loved you" he stated and kissed her again.

Betty hugged the bear to her tighter, tears sliding down her face. She opened her eyes and saw Daniel, his head on the bed in his arms. More tears blurred her vision. She was about to place her hand on his cheek, but stopped herself. "I do love you" she whispered and lied back closing her eyes again.

About half an hour later, Daniel opened his eyes when he heard a door open and close downstairs. He assumed that was Henry.

He looked to Betty placing his hand on the top of her head. "Betty..." he said quietly. "Henry is here. I'm going to go" he said leaning over and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Daniel?" she said sleepily. "Thank you." She said opening her eyes and looking up at him. Daniel smiled. "Good night." he said as she took his hand in hers and held it for a moment. "You too." she said. He kissed her hand and left just as Henry walked up. "Hey. She's just sleeping. I'm going to get going now"

"Okay. Good night. Thanks again" Henry said looking at him. Daniel just nodded again forcing himself not to blow up on him. He headed down the stairs and left.

Betty didn't want Daniel to go. She hugged the bear again trying to calm her rapidly beating heart and the tears threatening to surface again.

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**_AN: Hope you like it! I'll try and have the next part up as quick as I can! :P Thanks again for reading!_**


	22. Daniel & Hearts ?

**Think of The Firefly**

_Hi! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH FOR REVIEWING AND READING MY STORY! you have noooo idea how much it means to me! :) And also thank you so much for making this my story with the most reviews! it's really so cool! :P hehe _

_Thank you again! :) you're the best! _

_Hope you enjoy this chapter! I really like it myself! :)_

_For entertainment only! :P_

* * *

**Chapter 22**

**Daniel + Hearts =?**

Daniel was now back at his hotel room lying on the bed. He really hated leaving Betty. He wanted to stay, but didn't want to be near Henry right now. He was on edge. He knew if he stayed around he would have probably punched him or something. How could you not pay attention to your girlfriend that freaking moved across the country for your spoiled self? Daniel was furious. And it wasn't just any girl, it was Betty. He knew Henry cared about her, but he didn't show it.

Daniel sighed and sat up. Suddenly he remembered the piece of paper he put in his pocket. He took it out and held it in his hand.

There was a list of contacts and people that were needed for Betty's event.

The list went: Advertisers, Photographer, Designer, Caterer, Stylists, and DJ. There were check marks by DJ and Stylist assuming that meant she already found those people.

Daniel then looked to what really caught his attention. His name was scribbled on the piece of paper three times: once in a squiggly writing in the top right corner, another time really small at the bottom of the page, the other one to the left side. There was a question mark next to it.

There were some hearts drawn in the bottom right corner and a butterfly in the opposite corner. Daniel smiled when he saw the butterfly.

He also came to see that Henry's name was on there too. Only once though. It was half-way scratched out. Daniel ran his hand through his hair in contemplation. He wasn't sure what to really think. She could have written down his name for a number of reasons. Perhaps she thought he would be able to help her. Perhaps she thought he had connections to these people she needed. Perhaps...she had feelings for him? He wasn't sure if his mind was trying to convince him, but why else would his name be on the piece of paper three times, with Henry's name nearly scratched out. Hearts on the paper... sure they weren't right next to his name or anything and nothing was spelled out clearly, but it was implied wasn't it? Daniel sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.

After a minute, he looked at the list itself again. ...Photographer, Designer, Caterer? He lied down on his bed again starring up at the ceiling. After a minute he shot back up. He knew exactly where he could find those people. Daniel quickly got his phone out of his pocket, searched through his contacts and hit send. He lied back down waiting for the call to send.

"Eyy Daniel, my man!"

"Becks. How's it goin'?"

"Good. I'm in Cali right now for this huge wedding that I'm photographing."

"Oh wow. That's great, man. When's the wedding?"

"In two days. Came down early to check out the site and talk to the bride. I met one of the bridesmaids. She was a major hottie." Daniel rolled his eyes at his friend. "I'm sure she was. Hey, look, I'm actually wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Sure. You know you're my brother." Daniel smiled. That was true. He felt like Becks was more of a brother than Alexis ever was. "Thanks. Ok. So, I'm in Tucson and Betty has this really big event she's planning and they need a photographer and I was wondering if you'd be able to work the event?" He said hopefully.

"Hold up there. You're in Tucson? What the heck? Betty? The same Betty that was your assistant? What the hell you doing there?"

"Yes. She moved here with her crap boyfriend and I'm here to visit and well I found out she needed a photographer and I automatically thought of you."

"Aww...shucks! I'm touched" he said mockingly. "Shut-up! So, can you do it?"

"Well, when's the event?" Daniel calculated how many days he'd been in Tucson and the amount of time her event would be. "It's in exactly a week from tomorrow"

"Alright man, perfect. Ya, I can definitely be the photographer. Will I be getting paid for this?"

"Yes, of course. I'll send you the contract tomorrow morning. Basically, it will just be a confirmation through e-mail."

"That's fine. Alright man. I'll be glad to do it."

"Thanks Becks. You have no idea what this would mean to Betty" Daniel smiled just thinking about the look on Betty's face when he told her. "Betty, huh?"

"Yes" Daniel said simply. He smiled inevitably.

"Alright man, well I'll probably see you soon, then. Thanks man. For thinking of me."

"Anytime. Thank you. I'll call you tomorrow when I send you the email."

"Ok."

"Good night or day, whatever it is there" Daniel laughed.

Becks laughed. "Ya, bye" Daniel hung up smiling. One down, two more to go... he went through his phone again and was happy to find Christina's number.

"Hello?"

"Christina. Hey, it's Daniel."

"Daniel? Where the bloody hell did you run off to? Everyone's been askin' where you went wonderin' if you offed yourself because Betty left." Daniel's eyes went wide, but then he laughed. "Wow, is that what people are saying. Well, I certainly didn't off myself" he laughed "but, well I'm in Tucson with Betty." he said somewhat quieter unsure of how she'd respond.

"You're there? Well, then, should've known. So, how are things with Miss Betty? I miss her. Things are so boring here without her. Why'd you let her get away?"

"What?" Daniel's eyes went wide. "I let her get away?" he asked confused. "Yes! You should have told her you bloody couldn't live without her before she left. What you there fer anyways? Realized you love her, did you?"

"Wow, you're smart." Daniel responded in surprise and how much she was able to figure out without even him saying anything.

"Course I am. Now, tell me. Is she okay?"

Daniel sighed miserably. "I don't know Christina. Henry is a major asshole. He never spends time with her, always working, doesn't pay attention to her, and today when she freaking fell in the river/stream whatever and I got her home he didn't even leave work till it was time for him to. I mean what the hell?"

"Hold on there, Meade. Betty fell in a river? Is she alright?" she asked worriedly. "Yes, she's fine. I dove in after her and took care of her until stupid Henry showed up. God, I was so worried. I got her soup and this cute bear that had NY printed on it."

"Well, well, Daniel, aren't you a sweetie. You're her knight and she doesn't even know it."

"Knight?" Daniel said confused. "Yes, you saved Betty. You're there for her making sure she's alright. You bring her back Meade!" She said demandingly.

"I'm trying. Believe me! God, I just hope she loves me."

"Oh please. You serious? Of course she loves you. You're her crack for heaven's sake. She can't get enough of you. The poor girl's bloody addicted to you."

Daniel sighed. "Listen Daniel, was there something else? Why you callin' me for?"

"Right...well, actually Betty has this really huge event coming up and well, there was going to be a fashion show aspect to it and well, I was thinking if you'd maybe want to be the designer?"

"Really?" her voice sounded surprised. "Ya, I'm sure you'd design some great stuff, and I know Betty would probably be so happy if you'd design them."

"Oh, I'd love to do it, Daniel. Anything for Bet-ty. Oh, I miss the girl. You bring her back."

Daniel laughed. "I will!" he said assuredly. "That's what I want to hear." She said with a laugh. "I shouldn't have pushed her to be with Henry." She said reluctantly. "Hey, you're her friend. I'm pretty much doing the same. I just want her to be happy."

"Yes, but you also want her to be happy with you" she said knowingly. He sighed. "Right."

"No worries, Daniel. She'll come around. I know my Betty. She loves you too much. Have you even told her yer feelings yet?" she asked curiously. "Not necessarily."

"Well, when you do...which hopefully will be soon, just brace yerself, because if I know Betty she'd pretend she doesn't love you."

"Why would she do that?" he asked confused. "Because she loves you" she said plainly. "What? That doesn't make any sense" Daniel said confused. "When does Betty's love life ever make sense?"

Both Daniel and Christina laughed at that. "I'm just sayin, don't give up on the girl."

"Never. I love her, Christina." He said truly feeling his heart race just thinking about Betty. He let out a breath. "I can tell. Very sweet, Meade. I'm glad you got yer head out of yer arse." Daniel laughed. "Thanks. I guess."

"Give my best to Betty. Oh, I miss her."

"Me too" Daniel said quietly to himself. "Aww...I'm not much one for sappy romance, but you're just too bloody sweet." Daniel laughed. "Listen, I'm going to e-mail you soon about the theme of the event and then you can just send me some of your ideas so I can show to Betty. Thanks again Christina. ...For listening and helping Betty... She'll be thrilled."

"Thank you, Daniel. I'm thrilled to do it for her. Best of luck."

"Thanks. I need it"

"You don't." she said simply. "Bye now" she hung up and Daniel dropped his phone to the side of him. He closed his eyes letting out a breath. "I promise I'll make you happy, Betty." he said to himself. He got up from his bed and made his way to the lobby to use a computer to e-mail Christina, and then made his way back to his room to try and sleep a little, so he could wake up early and get other things done. When he got to his room, he realized he forgot his phone. He saw that there was a text from Betty. He smiled and quickly opened it.

_Thank you for saving me! =)_

_You're the best friend I could ever ask for! _

_I can't imagine life without you. _

_~Betty_

Daniel smiled widely and fell to the bed. "God, I love you, Betty." he said, his eyes closed taking in the words she sent him. Did she know what she was doing to him? She was just getting sweeter. He knew he had to tell her soon. He just hoped he would have the opportunity to. He picked up the phone again and sent her a text back.

_I'd never let anything happen to you! _

_I don't even exist without you. _

_~Daniel_

A few seconds later he got a response from her. His heart was racing. He opened it.

_And that is why I can't live without you..._

God, it would be so easy to text her he loved her. Three simple words. He didn't know what to do. He held the phone in his hand for a few minutes. He didn't want to tell her through a text. He needed to see her beautiful face. He let out a breath. _I can barely breathe without you, Betty. Jesus Christ._ Only Betty could make him feel this way. He picked up his phone again.

_=) I'm glad, because I don't want to live without you. _

_Is Mr. Bear taking care of you? =)_

Daniel laughed at his own text. A few seconds later his phone lit up with 'Betty Suarez'. He smiled and opened the text.

_=) Yes, he is! He's being very sweet. I love him!_

Daniel smiled just being able to see Betty's smile in his head. He would never be able to get enough of that smile.

_Good! He better be! _

_Good night, Betty! =)_

It wasn't till a minute later that he got another text from Betty.

_=) Good night! /3_

Seeing that heart symbol made his heart ache to be with her. The possibility of her loving him was the one thing that kept his heart going. After talking to Christina and seeing that sheet of paper with his name and her texts he was fairly sure that Betty might have some feelings for him. At least he reallyyyy really hoped so. If it weren't for all the people that encouraged him he may have already given up. He would never give up on her though. She meant too much to him. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes trying to rest enough to work in the morning.

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AN: I love Daniel! sigh... he's too sweet! :) 3


	23. Always a Team

**Think of The Firefly**

_Hi! Thank you again for your wonderful reviews! :) Here is the next part! It's a nice and long chapter! :) yay!_

_For entertainment only! :P_

* * *

**Chapter 23**

**Always a Team**

_Day 7 of Daniel being in Tucson_

Daniel woke up very early the next morning and headed to Betty's office. When he went he was more than surprised to have Mr. Moore help him so much. When he called Betty to check up on her, she sounded like she was feeling a lot better than the day before, which he was extremely glad for. He hated seeing Betty upset. She had told him that Henry was actually very sweet to her and stayed with her all morning just watching a movie and spending time with her. She told him that she had some things to do until mid-afternoon, which he was extremely grateful for since he had some things to take care of himself anyways.

After meeting with Mr. Moore, the graphic designer and some other people, he went to see Ashley. He had called beforehand to make sure she was there and was happy to hear that she was.

When he came to the café he was thrilled to see her outside. "Ashley, hey!" Daniel said approaching. "Oh, Daniel!" She hugged him warmly. "What are you doing here?" she said happily.

"I have a really great opportunity for you and your café." He said with a shine in his eyes. Ashley smiled. "Really? What is it?"

"So, is your boss here?"

"Oh, yes, he is. What are you up to?" she asked with a knowing grin. Daniel smiled widely. "You'll see."

"Okay, well, come with me." She walked inside, Daniel following behind. "Brain, could you cover for me for a while?"

"Sure Ash." He went outside a few minutes later. Daniel talked to Ashley and her boss, surprising the hell out of them with his opportunity for them. When Daniel said something in particular Ashley practically jumped out of her chair in excitement. The whole time her hand kept slapping his arm in excitement... It was things like that that made him happy that he was here. He didn't realize how many people were so nice. It was very different from the people at MODE, although it was hard not to still love them despite how insane they were. He liked that he was out of that MODE bubble for a while. It made him see what he really wanted.

While Daniel was with Ashley, Betty had gone to Dunne Styles. She walked in the styling studio. It was so glamorous. Everything was so classy. She was surprised by how elaborate the space was. It had white marble floors, black walls which somehow looked great. She liked the black and white, but what made the place really nice was the colored framed mirrors that just made the place 'pop' and the purple desk in the front. The colors fit them. She remembered from meeting Robert and Alissa how vibrant they were, not only in their appearance but their personality.

A few moments after she walked in she was greeted by Robert. "Betty!"

"Hi!" She smiled looking at him walking out from the back room. "What a pleasure seeing you, miss. What can we do for you?"

"Is Alissa here too?" she asked taking another look around. "Alissa!" Robert called. She walked out not too long after. "Betty! How good to see you!"

"I'm surprised you guys remember my name."

"Oh please, we really couldn't forget you if we wanted to." Betty was surprised by that. "Really? Why?" she asked curiously. "It's not every day we see such sweet friendship."

Betty was somewhat touched by her response. She knew that she and Daniel had a great friendship. She never wanted it to go away. "Thank you"

"So, how's your friend?" she asked curiously. "He's good." Betty smiled. He's wonderful, she thought to herself. Alissa and Robert glanced at each other with knowing smiles. They could see that she was clearly a girl in love.

"He still in town?" Robert asked curiously. "Yes, he's still here."

"How long is here?" he asked. "Another week." Betty said somewhat sadly. "Aw, come on luv. So, what can we do to help you today?" Alissa said putting her arm around her. "Well, actually there is this event that I'm planning and I was wondering if you two wanted to be the stylists for the fashion show, you know with the hair and the make-up."

Their eyes lit up. "Really? That would be fantastic, Betty" Alissa said walking her to the inside of the studio. "Great. I could talk to my boss. I need to get the budget and contract, but yay!" Betty cheered excitedly. Robert and Alissa laughed. "We actually just remodeled our studio. Everything was finished yesterday." Robert said taking an admiring look at their place.

"Wow, really? It looks fantastic! I love it!" she said admiringly. "Thank you" they both said. Betty smiled. Betty talked to them for a while telling them about the event and about their remodeled studio. When she was leaving she sent Daniel a text to meet her by this nice park she'd seen.

Daniel was just finishing up his meeting with Ashley and her boss. Ashley was walking him outside when Daniel got the text from Betty. When he took out his phone and saw that it was from Betty, he instantly smiled. Ashley leaned over to see who it was from and smiled looking up at him. "How are things with Betty?" she asked curiously. Daniel smiled. "They're good. Complicated. She nearly drowned yesterday."

"What?" her eyes went wide in worry. "What happened? Is she alright?" she asked in concern. "Yes. I got her out." Ashley smiled. "that's good."

Daniel smiled looking to her. "I want to tell her today." He said looking at her eyes for some reason. She smiled. "Good! I hope you do. Let me know how things go." She could see the look of worry in his eyes. She placed her hand on his back. "Don't worry, Daniel."

He smiled. "Thanks. I'm sure she'll be happy when I tell her about this"

"Yes, absolutely!" she smiled and then wrapped her arms around him. "Oh Daniel. Thank you so much for everything! I am so blessed to have met you. You're so terrific." She hugged him again. "I know you're here coming after Betty, but there is a reason why you two are here. I know it might take her some time to come around, but trust me everything that's happening will end up falling into place. I promise, Daniel."

"Thank you, Ashley. I'm really happy to have met you and Eric. Say hi to him for me."

"Of course. Oh, thank you Daniel" she hugged him again. Daniel laughed. "Thank you Ashley" he hugged her one more time and left to meet up with Betty. When he got to the park she was at, he saw that she was by this huge wooden playground with swings and stairs and slides. It kind of looked like a pirate ship. At least that is what he would imagine it to be. When Betty saw him her eyes lit up. Daniel smiled feeling his heart race just from that smile. He really wasn't sure how he was even standing anymore. He could barely breathe when he saw her. He walked over and as soon as he got closer to her she ran over and hugged him. "Hi!" She said happily. He wrapped his arms around her holding her tight. God, he wanted her so bad. "Hi" he said softly. She pulled back to look at him. "So, guess what?" she said happily.

"What?" he smiled. "You remember Robert and Alissa...the stylists that worked at the hotel?"

"Oh... yaa?"

"Well, I got them to work at the event."

"Oh, that's great, Betty!" he held his hand up to her. She slapped it happily. He looked at her for a minute loving how her hair was in a loose pony tail and the bangs falling to the side. He just realized she wasn't wearing glasses. Wow, he loved her eyes. He snapped himself out the daze he was in. "So, I have something that will make you even happier" he said somewhat anxiously.

"Really? What?" she said excitedly.

Daniel handed Betty a small sheet of paper stapled to a bunch of others. He looked at her intently to see her reaction to the paper with his name on it. He deliberately attached it to the other papers. Betty looked at the top sheet that had Daniel's name written all over it. She wondered what he must have thought from seeing that, but she pretended it was nothing. Daniel ran his hand through his hair realizing she didn't react to it at all. She looked up at him "What's all this?"

"I found that paper on the floor and saw that you needed help finding some people so... I went to your office and got those budget reports for you. And I spoke to your graphic designer and we sat down and came up with some ideas for promotional stuff for the event. I got you an advertiser that was willing to sponsor the event since it's a charity-type event. In the third page it shows how much they are willing to donate. And then look at the other pages after that. I think you will be surprised."

Betty looked at him in complete shock for a moment, and then looked to the papers flipping to the fourth page to see an e-mail print out from him and Christina discussing possible fashion designs for the event. She looked up at him, her eyes lighting up. Daniel smiled. She looked to the next page to see a confirmation from Becks about being the photographer for the event. Her eyes got brighter and Daniel's smile got bigger. She looked up at him, her eyes showing complete astonishment. She looked down and flipped to the next page, her heart fluttering wondering what to expect next. That page had an order from Ashley's café for desserts and snacks. She smiled and looked up at him in admiration.

"Surprise" he said with a grin. Betty laughed and wrapped her arms around him practically knocking him down from her embrace. "Oh Daniel! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said jumping up and down hugging him tightly to her. Daniel laughed at her excitement. This went better than he expected. "I can't believe you did that! You're the best! I love you!" She said happily but realized what she said. She bit her lip nervously. Daniel's heart started racing. God, she was torturing him, wasn't she? He didn't know what to do. He moved back from her looking at her eyes. She smiled brightly.

_Ugh Betty, you're killing me, honey. _

Daniel smiled, trying to calm his heart rate. "Thank you?" he didn't know what to say. He wasn't quite sure if she meant it as a friend or something more. Betty smiled and hugged him again. "Are you kidding? Thank _**you**__!_"

Daniel smiled "Betty, you don't have to thank me. I really just wanted to help you. And besides you always helped me when we worked together, and I'm part of your team, so..."

She moved away to look at him, her eyes bright. "Really?"

"Betty, we could be anywhere and we'll always be a team."

She smiled and hugged him again.

"Thank you" she said quietly next to his ear making Daniel's heart go crazy and his face burn up. _This was not fair!_ He wanted to tell her so badly that he loved her, but part of him was scared to tell her not wanting to ruin what they had together. He'd never had such a wonderful friendship, and he was not ready to mess that up if telling her would happen to scare her. Betty wanted to kiss him so bad. She had butterflies from how great it felt to have his arms around her and how fantastic he smelled. She reluctantly pulled away "I can't believe you did all of that. That's so...amazing." she said in complete amazement.

Daniel smiled "anytime. I'm glad I could help."

"Thank you." She smiled. "What did Mr. Moore say when you came to my office asking for all that stuff and all those meetings?"

"Oh...he was the one who actually helped me" In fact, Mr. Moore seemed even more helpful than he thought he would be. He knew that it had a lot to do with his feelings for Betty that he was being so helpful but he didn't mind. "He printed me a copy of the budget reports and gave me Emily's contact. It was perfect timing that she got out of her class when I was calling her; she came and met me in the office and we worked on the designs for the ads and promotion together. As for Becks and Christina, they were happy to do it for you and I spoke with them last night when I went back to my place."

Betty looked at him completely thankful to him. She didn't quite know how to show him how much she appreciated what he did for her. "I went to Ashley this afternoon; she and her boss were thrilled. In fact, her boss gave her a raise on top of that promotion she was given because I specifically asked for Ashley to work on the order."

"Wow that is so unbelievable Daniel. I'm sure Ashley is so grateful to you because of how much you helped her in her job."

Daniel looked to his feet, his hands in his pockets "Well she's been really nice, so it was the least I could do for her." He looked up at Betty to see tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying?" he asked in worry. She smiled through her tears. "You're so...wonderful, Daniel." Daniel felt like his heart was flying through clouds.

He smiled and before he knew it Betty's arms were around him again holding him tightly. He held her taking in her mesmerizing scent. Daniel felt his heart race all over again. "Betty..." Daniel said softly against her hair. Betty felt tingles through her body from his voice. "Hmm?" she said unable to have words come out of her mouth. "Betty...I uh...there's...I" just as he was about to make that jump, Betty's phone rang disturbing their moment. Betty frowned when she heard her phone. Daniel wanted to scream. He let out a breath of frustration and walked away from Betty as she pulled out her damn phone. He just wanted to take Betty's idiot phone, break it and throw it in the canyon so stupid Henry couldn't freaking call every time he was close to telling Betty. If Henry was in front of him now, he was sure he would have punched him in the face from frustration. Betty watched Daniel walk away and stop as she answered her phone.

Why did everything have to be so hard? It was as if every time 'what's his face' called he knew when Daniel was about to tell Betty. Daniel picked up a rock and threw it forcefully. Betty continued to watch him while she was talking to Henry, really having no idea what he was saying because she felt so confused at the moment. When Betty got off the phone she felt like crying. Every time she and Daniel had a moment, it was interrupted by Henry, as if it were a reminder. She knew she shouldn't be thinking like that. Henry was her boyfriend. And she...loved...him. She needed to take her mind off things.

"Daniel..." Betty said softly. Daniel took a deep breath and turned back to her. "What's up?"

"Can you take me to the office?"

"What office?" he asked confused. "Mine. I have to meet with my team and work on the rest of the planning."

"Okay. Let's go." He started walking ahead of her unable to really look at her at the moment. He felt his heart breaking with each step further he walked away from her. He felt the stinging in his eyes. He fought it back. He was about 20 feet away, when he heard Betty call him. "Daniel." Hearing her calm, soft voice made his heart race; he stopped and stood there his body not allowing him to move. She walked up to him, placing her hand on his arm which was like electric through his body. "You're still part of my team, right?" she asked looking at his eyes that were looking ahead. He smiled, his eyes meeting hers. "Always"

Betty smiled and took his hand in hers. Daniel smiled and kissed the top of her hand as they started walking. Betty bit her lip, her cheeks feeling warm. She could still feel how his lips tenderly touched her skin. She hoped that her hand wasn't sweaty.

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AN: I knowww, please don't throw things at me! I have a reason for everything! I promise! PLEASE REVIEW! =)


	24. Heart of the Team

**Think of The Firefly**

_Hiii! Thanks for your reviews! I know Henry's annoying as hell! _**  
**

_I really didn't plan to write this chapter, it kind of just came about, but I think it fits. :P Thanks for reading!_

_For entertainment only! :P_

* * *

**Chapter 24**

**Heart of the Team**

Betty and Daniel went to the office. Betty was glad that Daniel stayed. She was worried he would have left. He was very helpful in giving tips and suggestions when he saw fit. She and Daniel worked so well together. She couldn't help but feel that she wasn't as good, though. She smiled thinking Daniel was so much better at managing people than he thought of himself. He was a good editor –in-chief. Betty was looking at the sketches Jenny did for how the place would be set up. It was beautiful. It looked exactly how she described it. She looked up watching everyone, Aaron and Jenny talking to Daniel about the set-up, and Emily and Mark busy away working on the advertising. They already got the posters and tickets done. Emily was even able to get some bands from her school to play at the event. Betty sighed. She felt like she wasn't doing enough. She looked down at the sketches again. Daniel walked over after talking with Jenny and Aaron.

"Hey Betty" Daniel came up to her. She looked up at him. "Hey" she said somewhat distantly. He smiled "You okay?"

"Yes, why?" she asked confused. "You're really quite."

"I'm sorry. I'm ok." She said plainly. Daniel leaned against the conference table and looked around and back to her. "Listen to me, Betty...you're really good at what you do. Don't doubt yourself. I'm only here to help. If you want me to leave, I'm fine with that." Betty looked at him and felt hurt by what he said. Did she make it seem like she didn't want him there? She felt like crying. "Daniel...I don't want you to leave." She felt the tears threaten to surface. Daniel brought his hand to her face "Hey, Betty...what's with the tears?" he asked softly, his touch calming.

"I didn't mean to make you feel like I don't want you here. I actually felt like I don't belong here. I feel like I'm not doing anything." She said sadly.

"Betty, that's ridiculous. You're brilliant, okay?" he looked into her eyes. He took her hand in his and walked her to the middle of the conference table. "Hey, excuse me?" Daniel said to get the attention of everyone. Betty looked at him in wonder. "Would this event be possible without Betty?"

"No way!" Jenny said point-blank. "Definitely not" Mark said shaking his head. Aaron and Emily shook their heads, saying no.

Daniel looked to Betty. "Actually, I'm wrong Betty, this event could be possible without you; the only difference is it won't be _anything_ without you. You bring life to this event. The idea...it's so beautiful. Without you, we wouldn't be able to capture that light you're trying to show. Trust me, Betty."

Jenny sashayed over to Betty and put her hand on her shoulder. "Betty, did we make you think we could do this without you? Because if it weren't for you, I would have no idea what to design for the set-up"

Betty looked at her and smiled. Daniel squeezed her hand. She hadn't even realized he was holding her hand the whole time. "Betty, you're the heart of this event." He said looking at her eyes, smiling. Betty smiled feeling butterflies and a warm tingly feeling all inside her. He looked to everyone and back at her. "So, Betty, what can we do to convince you that we need you? Want us to cheer for you?" he said looking at her with a grin. Betty giggled.

"I think that was a yes" Daniel said looking to everyone. "Yayy! Betty! Woo!" They all cheered clapping, Aaron whistling loudly. Betty smiled feeling her cheeks warm up. "Now, Betty, repeat after me. Betty Suarez is awesome at what she does"

Betty bit her lip. "Betty Suarez is awesome at what she does" she laughed. "Good! Now are you convinced that we need you and you can do this?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear that?" Daniel teased. Betty shook her head giggling. "Yes, thank you, Daniel."

He smiled.

"Thank you" she said looking to everyone. Jenny gave her a hug. "You're silly to think we could do this without you, Betty" she said pulling away. "Thank you. Can I say something?" she said looking to everyone. They all looked at her attentively. "You all are the best team I could ever ask for. Thank you. I really can't imagine doing this without you"

They all smiled looking at her and then went on to what they were doing. Daniel just focused his attention back to her. Betty smiled and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Thank you" she said her head against his chest. Daniel smiled. "I'm part of your team, Betty."

"Why did you think I wanted you to leave?" she asked sadly, still holding him. "I just didn't want you to think I was taking over or something. I didn't really think I was anyways. I was just giving pointers. I want you to feel like you can do this Betty. You don't need me." She felt a tear slide down her face. "I do, though."

"Nahh...if anything, I'm the one that needs you" he said somewhat nervously. Surprisingly, she seemed to relax against him more. He smiled. "What do you say we take a look at the sketches Christina faxed over?"

Betty pulled away, her arms still around him, a bright smile on her face. "Okay!" Daniel laughed. "Hey Emily, did you have the sketches from Christina?" he asked walking over to her. Betty watched him smiling. Emily handed him the pile of sketches. He smiled and walked back over to Betty. "Christina says hi to you, by the way" he said with a smirk. "Well, say hi to her next time." She smiled.

Daniel nodded and pulled out a seat for Betty, and sat next to her, his knee barely touching hers. The small contact made her feel warm. She smiled as they looked through each design, marveling about how great they looked and how Christina was able to design such beautiful clothes. They all worked until 8 making a lot of progress with the plans. Betty was happy to have such a great team and having Daniel here. She really couldn't have done this without him. He was _her _heart.

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AN: Please review! :)


	25. A Touch of MODE

**Think of The Firefly**

_Hi guys! Thanks for your reviews! I truly appreciate them! THANK YOU! :) ok, so this chapter, I would say, is probably the most important chapter in the entire story. This is the one time you will get inside Betty's head for a while. I really had no intention of having Betty's thoughts in this chapter, so you should be happy...because things will become very... let's just say, unexpected. lol and you will need this chapter to understand. _

_Hope you enjoy it! :) _

_For entertainment only! :P_

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**Chapter 25**

**A Touch of MODE**

_Week 2, day 1 of Daniel being in Tucson_

Betty was at home fiddling with the pen in her hand. She watched how the pen wove through her fingers as she played with it. Every now and then she started chewing on the pen cap. She looked up at her laptop screen and stared at it for a few moments. She stayed in this morning trying to clear her mind and focus. Right now, she couldn't focus. Her mind was racing. And she tried with everything in her not to go where her mind always went. She needed this time away from everyone, especially a certain someone, who she chose to blur out at the moment. She sighed. Not helping. And probably wasn't helping at all that she was looking at a picture of that someone at a certain moment in the past that she chose to forget. She couldn't help it, though. She smiled looking at that picture. She didn't know who even took that picture. She wanted to thank and punch whoever took that picture. It was because of _that_ picture she wondered if she made the right decision about being here. And it was because of _that _picture, that she started to think of him differently. Well, not solely because of that picture; it just so happened that there was photographic evidence of what she chose to ignore.

She sighed. She missed MODE. If someone told her two years ago that she would miss MODE when she was gone she probably would have laughed at them. Especially the first week she worked there. Everyone was so mean, and rude, and superficial, including Daniel, but now she loved them all. She would be lying if she said she didn't miss them. She missed Marc and Amanda teasing her and making fun of her clothes. She missed wondering what Wilhelmina had planned up her sleeve next. She missed Christina being there when she needed advice. Major advice! She missed getting Daniel his coffee and bagel. Something so simple, yet fulfilling somehow. She missed being _there_. She dared glance up at her computer screen again. Just as her eyes were about to make contact, she moved her finger along the pad to quickly make it go away and return to normal screen. She let out a breath and leaned back in her chair. She saw the wallpaper on her computer and smiled. It was the one time Marc and Amanda were semi-nice to her. It was right before she left. They snuck up on her and forcing a MODIE to snap a picture of the three of them. Of course Marc and Amanda pretended that she just so happened to get in the middle of the picture when they were taking it. She missed them. She picked up her phone...

"Hello, MODE Magazine, how can I direct your call?" the voice on the other end said.

"Amanda! Hi, it's Betty!" Betty said cheerily.

"Betty! My Mexican MODIE!" Amanda said excitedly. Then she frantically apologized "I'm so sorry that I blabbed to Daniel. I felt so bad. It's just I was kind of um… I will deny this if you ever bring it up…but I was sad that you were leaving and Daniel said he was really happy for you when you were walking on the stage for the fashion show, and I got upset and told him. I don't know, Betty. I'm so sorry. I hope you don't hate me." Betty sat on the other end of the phone shocked at Amanda's confession.

"Umm…wow, Amanda. It's ok, though. I forgive you. I mean, everything turned out for the best." Amanda connected Betty to video chat on her computer. Betty accepted the session happily. She saw Amanda's beautiful face grace her screen. She missed her. Amanda waved at the screen continuing to talk. "I don't know about that, Betty, but if everything is good on your end then I guess."

"What do you mean, Amanda?"

"Well Daniel…He's been gone for a week now. Alexis wouldn't tell us where he went. She said he was on some vacation. I wonder where he is" Amanda said looking at her nails and taking a sip of her wine.

"Actually, he's uh…he's here." Amanda spit out her wine, her eyes getting big in surprise "What? Daniel's _there_?" She paused for a moment, and then had a thought "oo, Betty, that hunk of man candy wants you." She gave the screen a flirting wink.

"_WHAT?_ Amanda, what are you talking about?" Betty laughed in shock "Daniel is just visiting me."

"Uh-huh, sure Betty... You can tell yourself that all you want, but we all saw him here at MODE moping around the whole first week you were gone."

"Well, we are friends." That was a legitimate reason for a friend to be upset that another friend was moving to another state.

"Ya, ya, whatever... You two are ridiculous. Anyways, I miss you, Betty. It's kind of quiet here after you left. Marc and I miss picking on you." She said nostalgically, still with a hint of sarcasm.

"Gee, thanks."

"You always brought a smile and laugh to our faces." Betty rolled her eyes. "Speaking of Marc, where is he?" Betty asked. Marc ended up right next to Amanda. "Betty!"

"Hi Marc! Did you get that picture I sent you?"

"Oh my God! I died laughing! I can't believe you saw that. I showed it to Willi and she smacked it out of my hand." He started laughing.

Betty laughed. "I knew you would enjoy that. I still have the pineapple. I'm afraid to eat it." Betty laughed making Marc and Amanda laugh. They looked at the screen for a moment. Betty smiled. "I miss you guys, too."

"Who said anything about missing you?" Marc said looking at the camera with a telling smile. Betty just smiled. "I just know."

"So, did you and Daniel get married yet?" Marc asked randomly.

"WHAT?" Betty asked shocked. "Oh come on, we all know that Daniel left to see you. Alexis tried to say he went on 'vacation', oh please. Interesting time to take a vacation don't you think?" Marc said sitting in the chair next to Amanda.

"Ugh, guys, we're just...friends. He's just visiting me." She looked down and then back at the screen.

"Mhhmm" they both said. "She's totally in denial" Amanda said looking at Marc. "Daniel couldn't be more obvious." He said looking to Amanda. "Do you know I saw him at his desk looking like hell the day after Betty left?"

"Oo how do you think he'll propose to her?" Amanda said looking at Marc. If Betty wasn't sitting in her chair, she probably would have fallen to the floor from the shock of what Amanda said. "Aw and they'll make cute babies..." Betty was sitting there mouth agape in complete shock of what they were saying. "...with Daniel's eyes and Betty's skin."

"Let's pray to God they don't have her hideous teeth." Marc added. If Betty's eyes got any bigger she would probably be able to see God himself.

"GUYS! I'm still here." Betty said in a slight panic.

They both looked at the camera. "Hi" and continued talking like nothing happened. Betty rolled her eyes.

How could Marc and Amanda say that she thought? Where was all that coming from? Sure, maybe she chose to ignore the way Daniel looked at her, how calm and sincere his blue eyes were, how sweet he was to her, that beautiful smile her shot her every time he looked at her, how she got butterflies every time he said something sweet to her, all the nice things that he did for her, how her heart raced whenever she stared at him too long, and how gentle his touch was on her skin, and oh God, not again; she needed to stop. She just shrugged it off to being because she was spending so much time with Daniel. Ya, ya, that's it; maybe she needed to spend less time with him...but, she just couldn't. She could probably just spend more time with Henry...when he had time. She knew better than that though. It had nothing to do with Henry...maybe at first it did. She sighed. She would give herself a week. That was when Daniel was leaving. She would be able to make her decision then. She suddenly felt saddened that he would be leaving in a week. She realized how empty it would feel to be here without him. At this point she already knew there could be nothing with Henry. There was just no connection anymore. She knew he loved her. She loved him. Of course she did, but he was just too busy with other things. She didn't blame him for any of it. Their relationship, if she really looked at it from the beginning, had no real potential to begin with.

"Hellooo, Betty!" Amanda's voice called. Betty looked up. "Where are you?" Amanda asked looking at her with her eyebrow raised in curiosity. Amanda and Marc both watched her noticing how her face turned from a smile that gradually increased in brightness to a slight frown. Marc leaned over to Amanda and whispered something. Betty heard him though, saying "I think she's thinking about Daniel."

Marc was so smart. She never understood why he followed Wilhelmina around. He probably got a kick out of being bossed around by her, though. She shook her head. "Sorry, guys, I was just thinking about work." She lied. Ugh, now, she really did need to think about work.

"Oh, I heard that Christina was making designs for some major event...in Tucson?" Marc said pryingly. "Does that have to do with you?" he asked curiously. "Yes, guys, she's helping me. It was actually all Daniel's idea to contact Christina. I didn't even think to."

Marc and Amanda both looked at each other for a second and smiled. "Betty, you know Daniel is always so sweet to you. You don't even have to tell him what you're thinking. He just somehow knows" Amanda said looking at her with a genuine smile. Betty found herself smiling despite trying to deny it. She knew that was true. She really loved that about her relationship with Daniel. She remembered when he took care of her after almost drowning. She never had to say anything. That is what made her realize how...how right...she stopped herself before she could go on that thought. "Yeah, I know" Betty replied simply.

"MARC!" Wilhelmina's voice called from the back. His eyes bugged out. He turned and saw Wilhelmina standing there with her arms folded across her chest. "Sorry, Willi" he said apologetically standing up from the chair. Wilhelmina looked at the screen. "Is that Betty?" she asked, her voice sounding somewhat...happy. Betty smiled and waved "Hi Wilhelmina"

She cleared her throat. "Things are not so colorful with you around, Suarez. This is what a fashion magazine looks like!" she tried to say to be serious, a somewhat sly smile tugging at her lips. Betty laughed. "Thanks Wilhelmina."

"Yes, yes, now I need my workers to actually work. Since you've gone, no one seems to get anything done." Betty looked at her surprised. She took that as a compliment. She didn't really know how to respond to that though. "I'm sorry. It was nice seeing you. I miss you guys. I guess I'll talk to you later." She said sadly.

"Good day, Betty" Wilhelmina walked off, glancing back with a small smile.

"Bye Betty...I miss you" Amanda said trying to keep her eyes from expressing sadness.

"I will deny this if you ever repeat it, but I miss you, too, Betty" Marc said with a smirk. Betty smiled feeling the tears in her eyes. "Me too. Bye guys" she clicked the sign-out button and felt the tears slide down. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay here. Especially, since she already knew there could be nothing more than friendship with Henry. And if Daniel left, what would she stay back for. She wasn't going to tell him that, yet. She will decide everything by the end of the week. The screensaver came on again. She smiled looking at _that_ picture. She could just see that moment in her head again.

_Betty had just had the experience of a lifetime. Betty Suarez actually became a model for a few moments. She would have never imagined that. When the show was over and almost everyone left, she saw Daniel waiting for her at the bottom of the runway. When she saw him, she smiled, and when he noticed that she was running over to him saying his name happily, he smiled brightly. _

_Now, looking back at that moment, Betty had a thousand butterflies. Daniel waiting for her and smiling at her like that and her running to him. _

_As Betty made it to the edge, Daniel had grabbed her around her waist bringing her down to the bottom and spun her around once. "I'm so happy for you, Betty. You were great up there" he said happily as he pulled away from her, his hands still around her waist. _

_The moment itself was purely innocent, but now, she couldn't help but feel her body tingle at the gesture. _

"_Thank you, Daniel. I can't believe I did that." She said in surprise at herself. "Well, you looked great, Betty." his smile was so bright and genuine, so filled with light. "Thank you" she hugged him thankfully. _

_There were still a few people around taking everything down and cleaning up. Marc and Amanda came over and told Betty that she actually looked like she belonged at MODE for a change. She took that as a compliment from them. Then not long after Claire came up telling Betty that she looked beautiful. Betty had thanked her for being so kind to her. Now, she remembered who took the picture. It was Claire. How did she forget that? Ugh, of course it was her. She really knew how to take a picture. Now she remembered how that picture happened. Claire had told them they made a great team. It was then that Daniel's arm was around her back and they were both looking at each other with a truly happy smile on their face in agreement. Sure it would seem as a simple happy moment between two friends, but the more Betty looked at the picture the more she could see the depth in their facial expressions and their eyes. It was that that made Betty feel butterflies. It was the way that Daniel was looking at her that made her heart race. _

She smiled and shut her laptop. She leaned back in her chair fiddling with her pen again. She really needed to focus.

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AN: I know I torture you guys with that picture for a while. hahah :P I think this chapter says everything you guys need to know for a while. ;D


	26. Love is Happy, Love is Pain, Love is:

**Think of The Firefly**

_Hi! Thanks for your reviews. Hope you continue to enjoy the story! :) _

_Ok...so this is definitely the most intense chapter that I have written for this story so far._

_For entertainment only! :P_

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**Chapter 26**

**Love is Happy, Love is Pain, Love is...Confusing**

Daniel and Betty had met up for lunch and were now walking out of the café to head to Henry's office to surprise him. It wasn't Daniel's idea. In fact he stopped caring whether or not Henry spent time with her, because the less time Henry spent time with her the more time he was able to spend time with her. This was all one big mess. He just wanted to kidnap Betty and take her back to New York. As they walked out of the café, Daniel noticed the same old couple walk up; he quickly opened the door for them smiling. Betty watched him with a smile. He did that every time; she thought it was really sweet of him, and the couple seemed to be genuinely pleased with him. Today, the old man stopped Daniel.

"Hey son, come here a minute" the old man said with a smile pulling him a distance away from Betty, his wife standing next to him.

Betty leaned in closer to try to hear them without being obvious.

"Is that charming young lady your wife, son?" the old man asked with a smile.

"Oh." Daniel was taken slightly off guard, but quickly added "no, but I would like her to be someday. Maybe soon…" Daniel added with a smile.

"Well isn't that sweet, John?" his wife added with a delighted smile. The old man smiled at his wife.

"I just love her a lot." Daniel said looking to Betty, who was still trying to listen to them, but pretending to look at her watch now. Daniel smiled. The woman smiled admiringly. "Aren't you a dear" the woman said looking at him. Daniel smiled. "Can I ask you something…uh…what is your name?"

"Oh, my name is Mary, and this is my husband John. What's your question?"

"I'm Daniel" he smiled. "And uh…What made you think she was my wife?" he asked curiously.

"The way you look at her." Mary said smiling. "…and the way you talk to her, we see you all the time with her. You talk to each other like you've known each other for years."

Daniel smiled. "Well we have. We worked in New York together for 2 years now."

"New York?" Mary asked wonderingly.

"We're from New York, originally. It's just Betty moved here recently…with her uh…boyfriend…and I…uh…well I'm here."

"Does she know you love her?" John asked, having a feeling he hasn't disclosed his feelings to her yet.

"Actually, uh I haven't uh told her yet. I accidently blurted it out at her interview a few days ago, I don't think she heard me, and if she did, she didn't say anything, and I tried telling her a couple of times but..." Daniel looked at the ground for a minute.

"Don't worry dear. I'm sure that young lady loves you, too. She always seems happy to be with you." Mary said smiling. "Thank you. I live for her smile" Daniel smiled looking to Betty. Betty smiled back, but was feeling left out, so she walked over "Daniel, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends here?" she smiled up at him amused. He shot her a grin.

"Betty, this is John…and this is Mary. I guess we've been running into one another for days now, that it was about time we exchanged names." Daniel said sweetly.

"Hi." Betty smiled. "I'm Betty." Betty said putting her hand out to shake their hands.

"It's nice to meet you." Mary said

"You've got a charming friend" John added smiling at Daniel. Betty looked at Daniel and smiled. "Ya, he's not too bad." Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you both" Mary said with a pleasant smile.

"It was nice to meet you." Betty said smiling, thinking they were both so nice. "Thank you, I'll see you tomorrow." Daniel said with a grin. "Bye now. Oh and why don't you tell your friend here what we talked about" John said winking at him, encouraging him to tell Betty his feelings for her. Betty looked at Daniel curiously, with her eyebrow raised. Mary and John smiled and walked into the café.

Daniel closed the door and started to walk, Betty following him.

"What was that about?" Betty asked curiously as she walked up next to him.

Daniel smiled and leaned in close to her "They thought you were my wife."

"What?" Betty's eyes got big in surprise, stopping in place "What did you say?" She asked. A mischievous grin came across his face "Daniel! Did you just tell them I was your wife?" She asked surprised.

Daniel smiled "maybe" Betty smacked him "Daniel! What? Why would you say that?" Daniel laughed. "Betty, I'm kidding. _They_ thought you were my wife. I didn't say you were."

"Well, what did _you _say?" Betty asked curiously watching his face.

"Nothing. Betty, just relax okay?" Daniel said laughing slightly, thinking she was so cute when she was flustered.

Betty sighed and started to walk again, Daniel walking next to her with a grin. Betty looked up at him and smiled brightly. He noticed her smile from the corner of his eye. He glanced at her and then looked to her.

"What?" he asked wondering why she was smiling like that?

"What?" Betty said.

"Why were you looking at me like that?" He asked with a curious smirk.

"Like what?" Betty asked plainly.

"Like you…I don't know…heard a secret or something." He said looking at her intently.

"Maybe I did." Betty said simply.

"Are you going to share this secret with me?"

"Maybe you already know the secret." She said playfully, biting her lip and looking ahead.

Daniel gave her a confused look. "Really?"

"Yep!" She glanced at him with a smirk.

"You're not going to give me a hint?" he asked wanting nothing more than to attack her with a kiss.

"Nope!" she said sounding like a little girl. Daniel looked at her and smiled. She was too beautiful for her own good, he thought. He wondered why she hid her beauty from the world. He was just glad that he started to see it before she even started showing it. It was subtle things that made her beautiful. Her smile...the light in her eyes...her laugh.

"Daniel..." Betty had watched him for a minute as they were walking wondering what he was thinking, noticing his smile getting a little brighter as they continued walking.

"Huh?"

"What are you so lost about?" she asked curiously.

"Oh...uh nothing, sorry."

"Are you sure?" she glanced at him. "I guess I'm sort of curious about what your secret is." Betty smiled stealing a glance at him. "I like your _smile_, Daniel." She said looking at him perceptively. He raised his eyebrow wondering what her look was supposed to mean. He just smiled and said 'thanks'

Betty laughed shaking her head. Daniel looked at her curiously and then back ahead.

"I wouldn't mind." She randomly said watching her feet as they continued to walk. Daniel looked at her oddly "What?"

"What?" she looked up at him. "You just said you wouldn't mind. You wouldn't mind what?" he asked curiously. "Oh...uh...nothing" She didn't realize he would hear what she said.

After about a minute longer of walking, Daniel asked Betty... "So, uh, he works close to here?" Daniel asked randomly. Betty looked at him confused "What? Oh, you mean Henry?" Betty didn't understand why he never said his name. It was so confusing. She basically had to assume every time he said 'he' that Daniel was talking about Henry.

"Uh, ya… Does he work around here?" Betty sighed lightly and shook her head, "ya, about a block from here."

"Okay. What's the matter?" he asked noticing her frustrated sigh. "Nothing...I've only been here twice."

"Oh...so?" he asked confused. "I don't know...I have no idea what I meant." She laughed at herself. Daniel looked at her oddly. "Okay."

They made their way to Henry's office. Despite finding out about something that should make her happy, Betty felt sad at the thought of Henry. Her heart was a mix of racing a hundred miles a minute with butterflies fluttering about everywhere and breaking into a million sharp pieces. She knew she had to end things with Henry soon. She just didn't have the heart to do it yet. She felt her heart breaking already at the thought of hurting him. Although, she wasn't in love with him, she realized, she still loved him very much. Despite not spending a lot of time with her, he was always so sweet and caring of her. She didn't want to hurt him. She knew he'd been through a lot. She sighed as they continued to walk to the building. Daniel stole glances at Betty, wondering what was going through her mind. Clearly something was troubling her. He wanted to ask her, but he didn't want to upset her. He knew how upset she got whenever he butt in. He wanted to stay on her good side. When they walked to the building, they got in and went directly to the elevator, Daniel following Betty. When her finger hit the button to Henry's floor, he noticed her hand was shaking. She looked nervous. He watched her curiously noticing how tense she was.

"Betty?" Daniel's voice made her jump slightly, one of her hands coming to her chest and the other steadying her by the wall. "Are you okay?" he looked at her concerned. Betty let out a breath. "Yes, I'm sorry. I was just a little nervous about the event." She wasn't thinking about the event. She felt so horrible. The event seemed like it was always the last thing on her mind. Other things floated around in her mind much more. She wondered why she was given the position. She didn't deserve it.

"Betty, the event will turn out beautifully. I promise you." He said watching her eyes. She looked up at him with a small smile. "Thanks." She said simply and looked back ahead of her. Daniel noticed how strangely she was acting. When the elevator opened, Betty walked out with a somewhat quickened pace, Daniel following behind. Daniel wondered why she was acting so fidgety. She stopped abruptly, Daniel knocking against her. "What?" he looked at her his hands placed on her arms as a reflex. "Sorry, I'll be right back." She quickly went off to the restroom. Daniel stood there bewildered by what just happened. He walked over to the restroom and stood against the wall by the door.

When Betty walked into the restroom she felt like crying. She leaned over the sink, her hands placed on the cool marble, letting out a deep breath. She needed a moment to compose herself. She felt so miserably confused at the moment. She turned on the faucet and washed her face lightly. She felt like she was on fire. What was she going to tell Daniel now? She knew he was probably standing right outside concerned about why she was acting so weird. She could just say she felt sick. Yes, it's somewhat embarrassing, but that was her only option at the moment. And right now, she kind of did feel sick. She dried her face and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a few seconds then walked to the door. Lo and behold when she walked out Daniel was standing by the door looking at her worriedly. "Are you okay?" he asked bringing his hand gently to her shoulder. "Ya, sorry. I thought I was sick, but I'm fine."

"Okay. Are you sure?" Betty wished she still had her glasses right now. But no, she had to be clumsy and fall in the river and lose her glasses. She felt like everyone could see right through her.

She smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry I freaked you out."

"Ya, you kinda did." He said looking at her wonderingly. "I'm sorry. Let's go!" she said turning and starting to walk across the room and down to the left. Daniel followed her in utter confusion. Maybe he needed to give her some space. He practically spent every possible minute with her. Maybe she didn't want him to feel bad, so she said she had to work on some things in the morning and now, her acting strangely.

When Betty saw Henry in his office, she smiled, and when he looked up with a huge smile, she smiled a little brighter, despite feeling her heart pound against her chest. She felt stinging in her eyes. When she walked into his office she hugged him tightly just as he got up from his chair. "Hi" she said softly. Henry smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Betty, what a nice surprise." Betty felt the tears in her eyes. She tightened her hold on him. "I love you" she said, her heart sinking. That had been the first time she told him that she loved him and she didn't mean it in the way he thought. She felt tears slide down her face. Henry's eyes lit up. He moved his hands to her face pulling back to look at her. Betty cursed her falling tears. "Hey, why are you crying?" he asked in concern, his voice soft. "I'm sorry. I guess I just...missed you." She felt that stinging again. Henry smiled wiping her tears away and kissed her sweetly, his hands moving around her hugging her to him. "I missed you, too, Betty." Betty felt more than crushed right now. It's funny, she felt crushed thinking about breaking up with someone, when the person who is going to be 'dumped' is supposed to be the one who is crushed.

Daniel was by the door leaning against the frame. He felt his heart break. He ran his hand over his face. All hope that he felt completely drained out of him. How could he break them up? He couldn't do it. As much as he loved Betty, he didn't want to break anyone else's heart. He started thinking that Betty might be noticing him differently, but now he wasn't so sure. As he watched them hugging each other, he smiled, despite his broken heart. He loved Betty and he wanted her to be happy no matter what. He loved her enough to do that. They walked over towards him, Henry's arm at her back. "Hey Daniel" he held out his hand to him. Daniel gave off a small smile, despite the pain he felt inside, and shook his hand. "Hey. So, this is where you work?"

Henry nodded. "Ya"

"Nice office." He said observantly noticing the rather nice view of the mountains from his window. His office was not that big, but spacious enough to be comfortable. He tried hard not to look at Betty, because he was sure he might breakdown. Betty looked at Daniel's eyes. She could see how dark they appeared. She looked down at the blue carpeted floor. She wanted to laugh. The color was like Daniel's eyes. She glanced back at Henry.

"Thanks. It's better working as a managing accountant. The only bad thing is the long hours that are keeping me away from Betty." he looked to Betty with a saddened smile. She smiled half-heartedly feeling so guilty. She looked back down to the floor. Daniel glanced at her inevitably wondering why she looked so sad. He just looked back to Henry who had caught his pensive gaze. Their eyes locked for a moment, but then Henry shook it off "So, you two have any plans today?" he asked trying to make conversation. "Oh...uhh...not sure" Daniel said distantly. Henry looked to Betty. "I had to go to work later." She said looking up at him and glancing at Daniel.

"Okay. How is that going?" Henry asked curiously a smile on his face. Betty smiled. "It's good. Daniel is always so positive and motivating to the team. I don't think we could really do it without him." She said stealing a glance at him, but then looking back to Henry. A small smile came to Daniel's face. Henry smiled and hugged Betty "that's good, Betty. I'm sure it will turn out great" he said positively.

Betty smiled. "Thank you, Henry." Henry smiled, looking to his watch realizing the time. "Oh shoot. I'm sorry Betty. I have a meeting soon that I have to make sure I'm prepared for."

"Oh. That's okay, Henry."

"I'm glad you stopped by, Betty." he smiled hugging her to him. Betty smiled hesitantly. "Me too."

"see you later, Daniel." Henry said putting out his hand to him. Daniel smiled shaking it "ya, good luck with the meeting."

"I'll see you later, Betty." he hugged her again squeezing her tight playfully. Betty laughed. "Bye Henry."

"Bye. I love you, too, Betty" he said giving her a quick kiss. Betty wanted to crawl into a ball and cry. She smiled up at him, trying to fight the sadness in her eyes. She pulled away from him, and he went to his desk picking up some paperwork. She watched him for a minute, Daniel already standing outside. She just looked down and walked out alongside Daniel. Neither said a word until they got out of the building. "So, uh...Betty...um...do you want me to uh...leave?" he said hesitantly. Betty looked up at him quickly. "What? What do you mean?" she said in a slight panic, tears already threatening to fall down her face. "I know you have to go to the office. I was just wondering if you wanted me to leave you alone for a while."

She looked to the ground "Oh" and let out a relieved breath. She thought he meant that she wanted him to leave Tucson. Realizing what he said she looked up at him in confusion. "No, Daniel. Why?" she asked looking at his eyes. "I don't know. I just thought you might want some space. I don't want to be in the way."

"Don't be silly, Daniel. Didn't you just hear me up there? You're our driving force. You keep us encouraged." She said looking at him. He heard everything up there, a lot more than he wanted to hear, which is why he wasn't sure if he should be around Betty at the moment. Betty brought her hand to his arm. "...and besides, I want you there." She said softly looking at his eyes, her touch so gentle it made his stomach flip.

His eyes met hers. He smiled. "Okay."

Betty smiled taking his hand in hers pulling him along. Daniel looked at their hands and back at her in wonder. His heart was racing. Her hand was holding his with such warmth, like she wasn't going to let go despite him being slightly behind her.

He smiled as his gaze went from their joined hands and up to side of her face. That beautiful face he could barely stop thinking about. That smile that always brought a smile to his face...those eyes that he couldn't seem to get out of his mind...that perfect light of hers that made his life beautiful. He sighed brushing his left hand along his suddenly damp cheek. He tightened his grip to her hand not wanting to ever let go of that. Betty smiled as they continued to walk, butterflies making her feel like she was going to faint if she let go of his hand. She never wanted to let go.

Henry sat there in his office waiting for the time to go to his meeting. He spun in his chair running his hand through his hair in deep thought. He didn't know what to do. He felt confused. Not moments ago he just had Betty, the woman he loved dearly, tell him she loved him, yet somehow it didn't fully register. He'd never had her hug him like that. Her tears confused him. He wanted to hold her and never let her go, but somehow he felt that despite holding her close, there would still be that distance that he so wished to get rid of.

He let out a stressed breath and rolled his chair by the window. Turning slightly so he could look out to the city and mountains, he couldn't help but notice how they looked at each other...or didn't look at each other. His heart wanted Betty so badly, but he knew her heart _needed_ something else entirely and it wasn't him. It pained him, but he wanted her to be happy no matter what. He would always love her. He probably would never stop. He was going to have to think about this all later. He had to go to that dreadful meeting. He got up picking up his file from the desk and headed out of his office. He couldn't help but relish in her warm embrace despite everything. He wished he could never be without that. He looked down at the floor beneath his feet wondering how he didn't fall despite it being there. "I do love you, Betty" he said quietly to himself as he stepped into the meeting room knowing he had to face reality whether he wanted or was even ready to or not.

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_**AN: I became very emotional while writing this chapter, especially the second half. I'm such a baby. I cried. lol I'll try and have the next part up soon. Let me know what you think please! :) Thanks again for reading... **_


	27. What's the Deal?

**Think of The Firefly**

_AN: HI! thanksss for your reviews! =) Here's a nice long chapter! I honestly had so much fun with this one :P hehe_

_For entertainment only! :P_

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**Chapter 27**

**What's the Deal? **

From the minute Betty took Daniel's hand in hers to go to the office, she never let go. Her hand was holding his when they walked up to the building. It was holding his when they got on the elevator. And it was holding his when they walked off the elevator and to the conference room. When Daniel thought she would let go, she didn't. Even when they walked into the conference room with some of the team eying them curiously, she didn't leave his hand. It was only when they got to the table that she slowly let go of his hand. He could feel the reluctance of her wanting to let go. He looked at her curiously. She just smiled normally and asked the others if there were any updates as if what she did was the most natural thing in the world.

He tried to pretend it was nothing, but he couldn't help but think she would have held his hand the whole time if they could. He tried his best not to stare at her too much. It was just so hard, especially with her looking so very beautiful. The fact that he could see her lovely brown eyes made her even more beautiful. And her dress...it was...nice, to say the least. The light blue made her smile brighter. He had to snap himself out of his day-dreaming a couple of times. He was somewhat embarrassed when Emily was trying to say something to him and he wasn't paying attention thinking about Betty. When he finally came back to reality, he looked to see Emily looking at him with a knowing grin. He placed his hand over his face. She just snickered and slapped his back lightheartedly.

Betty couldn't keep from smiling. Every time she noticed Daniel watching her she got butterflies to no end. She felt like she would be able to fly from all the butterflies she felt. She tried her best not to be obvious, but when Jenny caught her glancing at Daniel a little too admiringly, she looked at her shyly, a blush coming to her face. She was glad that Jenny didn't bug her about why she was staring at Daniel. Jenny just smiled winking at her. Betty blushed trying to keep herself distracted. She made excuses for herself to be next to Daniel or to come over and talk to him.

Daniel was surprised when he got a call from Alexis, going out of the conference room to take it. Meanwhile a certain photographer made his way through the TLM offices looking cool and shooting that charming grin of his. When he was shown to the conference room expecting to see Daniel and a girl with crazy bright clothes, he was surprised to see no Daniel at the moment and no girl with crazy clothes. When he saw Betty he walked over suavely taking a good look at her "Well, hello there hot stuff, have you seen Daniel?" Betty looked at him with wide eyes. "Becks?"

"Uh...ya? Do I know you?" he asked confused how this insanely beautiful woman knew him and he didn't remember. "Becks, it's me, Betty!" she said cheerily.

"Betty? Uh...you mean the Betty that Daniel Meade knows?" he asked with a curious smirk taking another glance at her appearance. "Yes" she rolled her eyes. "Wow, you're gorgeous"

Betty smiled in surprise at his comment. "Thank you" she said unable to help her cheeks from feeling warm. He smiled showing off that rather cute dimple. "So, where's my man?"

"I don't know. He got a call a minute ago." Becks just stared at her. Betty looked at him "What?" she asked confused. "You sure did change since I last saw you."

"Haven't changed that much." She smiled brightly showing off her braces and pointing to her smile. Becks laughed. "I see...still, you look very...smokin" Betty laughed. "Thanks. I guess. So, what are you doing here so early? I thought you had a wedding to photograph."

"Ya, that fell through. The bride caught the groom cheating."

"What? Oh no!"

"Yeh messed up everything. So, I just decided to come here and hang with my bro before I head back to New York and then just come back for the event."

"Oh...okay." Right when Becks was about to ask where Daniel was again, out of nowhere he gets pummeled to the floor shocking both him and Betty from the sudden contact. "Becks!" Daniel said excitedly. "Hey man, dang...you have to go knock the wind out of me?"

Betty giggled. Daniel laughed and pulled him up. "Sorry man. I haven't seen you."

"What can I say? I'm hard to get in touch with."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "So, how are things?"

"Good...wanted to catch up. Maybe we can go for drinks later."

"That sounds good." Daniel said happily. "Can I come?" Betty said walking up to them. They both looked to her with their eyebrow raised. "You want to come, Betty?" Daniel asked surprised. "Yes!" she said with a smile. "I thought you didn't like to drink?"

"I don't, but I like _you _guys." She said with a smile. Daniel smiled, Becks looked to Daniel with a grin. "It's fine with me, Betty. What about you?" Daniel looked to Becks.

Becks looked to Betty "Betty, if you come with us, I don't know if I'll be able to behave." Both Betty and Daniel rolled their eyes. Betty ignored Becks and looked to Daniel. "So, I can come?" she said with a grin. Daniel laughed. "Sure, Betty. If you want to."

"Yay!" She smiled patting Becks on the shoulder and walking off to Jenny. "Man, she sure is hot. No wonder you're here."

"Shut-up." Daniel said punching him in the shoulder. "Hey, so I'm gonna get settled and come back later." Becks said rubbing his arm.

"Okay...stay at the hotel I'm in." Daniel quickly got a pen and piece of paper jotting down the hotel address and his suite number. "Alright thanks. I'll see you later." Becks left to get settled, "have fun" he winked at Daniel before walking off. Daniel shook his head and walked over to Betty and Jenny.

They all worked on the rest of the plans, finishing up details on the location of the event. Betty was talking to Jenny when Daniel was sitting down looking over the final sketches of the set-up and the last sketches Christina sent over so they could choose from. "Oo, I like that one" Betty said her hand on his shoulder as she stood very close to him. Daniel looked up at her with a smile. "You should see the rest" he said loving how close she was and how nice she smelled. She smiled looking at him. "Okay" she leaned somewhat against him as he flipped to the next sketch. She glanced at him thinking he was so gorgeous. How she was so lucky to be around someone so handsome, she wasn't sure. Right when he glanced at her she looked back to the sketch. "I love the colors on that one" she said, her cheeks warming up. Daniel smiled looking to her and then looking back at the sketch flipping to the next one. Daniel felt her hand rub small circles on his shoulder. He wasn't sure how he didn't turn into ashes from her touch.

Betty looked at him as he flipped to the next one, when he turned his face she moved in for a kiss. Daniel's eyes got big in surprise but he placed his hand on her lower back bringing her closer to him. She leaned in closer, practically on top of him deepening the kiss, her hand coming to his face. "Betty" Daniel's voice snapped her back to reality. Was she just fantasizing about Daniel? She felt extremely flustered. "Oh...sorry"

He looked at her curiously for a moment "What do you think about this one?" he asked looking at her wondering why her face was so red. Betty felt like she was on fire. She ran her hand to the side of her face, pushing her hair back. "That one is nice. I actually really like the beadwork." She said having no idea what was coming out of her mouth. "Okay. I think we should pick the best ones from this set and the best from the other set, so she could have enough time to make them. How many do you think we should pick?" he asked looking at her. "Oh...umm...that sounds good. Ya, uh...how many did she send over total now?" she asked trying her best to make sense.

"Uh...I think um...15 or 16" he said rubbing his neck trying to think about how many she sent over. "Wow. Well, how many will she be able to make for us? I don't want to stress her out."

"I think she told me the most she would be able to make was 8, because she still has to worry about MODE."

"Okay. Sounds good"

"Alright... there are 8 in this set, so let's pick the ones we like the most from this one and then the others and choose from there" he said looking at her. "Okay" she smiled and pulled up a chair to sit next to him. They looked through all the sketches choosing which ones they thought were the nicest and fit the theme the best. Daniel couldn't help but notice how much she touched him. It wasn't anything over the top. It was more subtle. Like when she leaned over reaching for a sketch on the table in front of him so he smelled that amazing perfume she was wearing, or placing her hand on his 'by accident' when she took a sketch out of his hand, or when she sat so close to him, their arms and shoulders were touching.

Daniel ended up going to get a coffee, because he couldn't take anymore of Betty touching him without him being tempted to molest her right there in the room with everyone watching. When he got a coffee he stood outside leaning against a somewhat tall white 'decorative' box. He didn't know what the heck it was, but he leaned on it, his head in his arms watching Betty talk to Jenny through the glass. After a minute, he took a sip from his coffee, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "How are things with you my boy?" Mr. Moore said standing next to him, his hand still on his back. Daniel sighed. "Okay. I guess."

"Now, why is it that you haven't told Miss. Betty that you are this crazy about her?" he asked confused. Daniel looked to him, his head still in his arms. "Her boyfriend..."

"What boyfriend?" he said with a laugh. Daniel was shocked by his response. "Isn't she always with you?" he asked looking at him. "Yeah, pretty much." Daniel replied. "Well...then the way I see it, you are more of her boyfriend than that other lad."

Daniel didn't really know how to respond. "I guess...but she's still with her boyfriend."

"I suppose. Listen, I'm not your father and I'm not going to be, I'm just telling you if you were my son I would smack you in the head and demand you tell that young lady how you feel. True love doesn't come easy. She clearly loves you dearly. She may have a boyfriend, but her heart always thinks about you." Daniel looked at him interested by what he said. "You really think that?" he asked. Mr. Moore smiled. "I guess the only way you will find out is if you tell her what's in _your_ heart." he said with a warm smile and walked off leaving him to ponder what he just said. Daniel sighed taking a deep breath and looked back at Betty.

Betty was looking at pictures Ashley sent of how the desserts were going to look when Jenny slid in next to her. "Okay, so I tried to keep my mouth shut, but what's the deal with you two?" She asked unable to take the not knowing.

"What?" Betty asked confused. "Oh please. You and Daniel? There's something."

"No, Nothing." Betty said unable to hide the blush that came to her face. Jenny wanted to laugh at Betty's inevitable smile. "Uh-huh, sure... Didn't look like nothing, especially with you looking like you were about ready to jump him right here in the office."

Betty's eyes got big. She felt like a deer caught in headlights. "Umm..." she looked down nervously. "It's okay. He's totally cute. And he seems to _adore_ you" she said dreamily. Betty smiled looking at her feeling her face blush.

"So?" she nudged her playfully. "Jenny, stop. We're just friends."

"Uh-huh...that is probably the biggest lie ever" she said with a grin. Betty shook her head. "I know you likeee himmm" Jenny said playfully, nudging her arm again. Betty laughed. "Jenny. Okay. I do, but..."

"Oh, but nothing." Betty was about to speak up, but Jenny interrupted. "I know about your 'boyfriend'. I say cut him off, and get with Daniel."

Betty's eyes went wide. "How did you?"

"Oh please, all of us have been secretly betting when you two would admit that you liked each other."

"What?" Betty said in surprise. "Yes" Jenny smiled. "Come on, did you really think we couldn't tell how close you two are. He's always sooo super sweet to you and encouraging you all the time. And we all see the way he looks at you. It's so sweet. It makes even tough-girl Emily smile. And you...you're the funniest. We can see how much you want him."

Betty's eyes went wide. "What?" she felt her heart race and her face burn up. Jenny laughed. "Oh, ya...we are a smart group you work with. That's why we got this job." She said with a grin. Betty smiled looking at her.

"Look at you. Don't you look like a love sick puppy?" Becks said coming up next to Daniel.

"Becks. Leave me alone, man." Daniel said not really feeling like messing around right now.

"Dude...what's with you?" Becks looked at him thinking this was not the Daniel he knew. He placed his hand to his back. "You alright man."

"Ya, I'm fine, I guess. I'll live. I don't know how." He said miserably. "Wow, who messed you up?" Daniel just kept his gaze on Betty through the glass. Becks followed his gaze. "Betty?" he looked to him. "Ohhh...I get it. You got the hots for her and she just thinks of you as a friend or something." Daniel looked to him narrowing his eyes. "I don't have the hots for her. I LOVE her."

"Yeah, same difference. Sure, she's hot, but man, she's just another girl."

"No, she's not, Becks. She's...Betty." he said with a smile coming to his face. "Wow, you got it bad, don't you? So, what then? Why are you so miserable?"

"She has a...boyfriend" he mumbled. "Ya, so. That never stopped you before." Becks laughed slapping his back. "Shut-up. This is different. I actually love Betty and care about her."

"Okay...so, why don't you tell her that?" he asked confused. "Because, she loves her boyfriend...not me." He said looking down. Becks laughed. "Are you kidding? She looks like she's into you. Why else would she want to go get drinks with a couple of morons like us? As much as I like to say it's because of me, she didn't even look at me." Daniel looked to Becks. "I don't get it. She's with her idiot boyfriend that doesn't spend the time of day with her, but then she touches me and...kinda flirts with me...sometimes...I don't know. And the way she looks at me sometimes...I'm so confused."

Becks looked at his friend shaking his head. "Wow, so this is what love does to you?" he said looking through the glass at Betty and back to him.

"Jenny, you promise you won't tell him." Betty said making her swear to not to tell what she was planning. "I promise. Oh, that's so sweet, Betty. I'm glad to hear you say that." Jenny hugged her excitedly. Betty laughed. "Jenny, I swear to you, if you say anything."

"I promise. I promise!" She said waving her hands in front of her. "ohh yay!" She quickly got a piece of paper and pen and jotted something down. "You have to tell me exactly what happens." She handed Betty the piece of paper. Betty smiled taking it from her. "I promise."

"Oh yay!" Jenny jumped up excitedly making Betty laugh. "Now, Betty. I have one last thing to ask."

"Okay?" Betty said being prepared for her question. "Who was that hot photographer guy that came in a while ago?" she said with a grin. Betty smiled. "That's Becks. He's an old friend of Daniel's."

"He's so hot." Jenny said feeling like a teenager. Betty laughed. "We're all going for drinks later, maybe you come with us."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh really?"

"Ya, sure" she said smiling. "Okay" Jenny smiled just as Becks and Daniel walked in. "Hey Betty, look, Becks and I are going to head out."

"What? Why?"

Daniel looked to Becks not knowing what to say. "Listen Betty, this is guy time." Becks said trying to spare his friend. "Oh" Betty looked down "Well, darn" she said sadly looking to Jenny. Jenny just shrugged. "Hey Becks, this is my friend Jenny. Jenny, Becks. Maybe you two could hang out later." Becks smiled brightly. "Ya, that would be...nice"

Jenny blushed. Betty looked to Daniel, but he just took out his phone pretending to be looking through something. He felt like a loser. "Becks" Daniel said still looking at his phone as Becks was already flirting with Jenny. Becks looked to Daniel. "Alright" he looked back to Jenny. "I'll see you around Jenny. Nice meeting you." He smiled and went off taking Daniel with him. Betty watched them leave. Jenny smiled standing next to Betty.

"Those are probably two of the most gorgeous men I've ever seen" she said with a giggle. Betty looked to her shaking her head. "Come on, what do you say we finish up here and have a party of our own? We don't need them" Jenny said with a playful pout. Betty laughed. "Okay"

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AN: You are just going to have to wait and see what Betty's planning :P hehe ;)


	28. Tickets to an Event

**Think of The Firefly**

_AN: Thanks for reviews! :) All I have to say is Daniel is being stupid... _

_For entertainment only! :P_

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**Chapter 28**

**Tickets to an Event**

Daniel and Becks had gotten a few drinks trying not to talk about Betty, but Becks asked too many freaking questions driving Daniel mad. Becks eventually had enough of his pouting and crappy mood; he brought him back to his room and went to his own. He couldn't handle being around Daniel right now. He had enough drama from the wedding; he couldn't take Daniel's idiotic drama at the moment. Daniel was in his room when he heard a knock on his door thinking it was Becks.

"Look Becks, I'm sorry I've been" he said as he opened the door but stopped when he saw that it was Betty. "Wow" he said taken back by how great she looked. "Betty? What are you uh...doing here? Looking like that"

She walked like she owned the place. He loved that. He smiled closing the door and looked to her, noticing she was wearing that short turquoise dress they both agreed she looked hot in and smiled "Nice dress, Betty." He said with a grin. Betty smiled brightly "Thank you."

"So, what are you dressed up for, Betty?"

"Daniel, I got these tickets from my boss for this concert tonight. I was actually wondering if you wanted to go, too"

"Betty, sweetie, I know you want me to go, but you should go with um, you know."

Betty looked at him a minute, and then realized who she meant. "What if he doesn't want to go?" she asked really not caring if he did or not at this point.

"Did you ask him?"

"No, but-"

"Betty, go ask your boyfriend to go."

"But Daniel, I have an extra ticket. I was thinking you could come with us." Betty said pulling out the tickets. Daniel looked at her "oh." he paused "No, that's ok Betty. I don't think it would be a good idea if I come."

"Why not?" she asked confused

"Betty, take Becks or something." He said walking over to the window.

"Daniel, is everything ok? Are you mad at me or something?" Betty asked worried.

Daniel quickly looked to her "Betty, are you crazy, I'm not mad at you, ok. I just think it would be better for you if you go with your boyfriend and not let me interfere. I think you can handle this. And besides, I'm kind of tired, Betty." Betty looked at him skeptically. She knew there was something else.

"Fine Daniel. Are you sure you're ok with me going with Becks?" Daniel looked at her confused "What do you mean by that Betty?"

"He was kind of flirting with me earlier." She didn't really care that Becks would flirt with her. She was used to it, she just wanted any excuse to get him to come.

"Betty, that's Becks. And besides you're going with-"

"Ya, ya I know…I'm going with 'him'" Betty interrupted, with a frustrated tone. It was really getting annoying that Daniel kept referring to him…even she was doing it now…Henry like that. Betty sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to go Daniel?"

"I'm sure Betty…I think I should sleep a little; I haven't really gotten much sleep since I came here Betty." Daniel really wanted to go, but figured it was a bad idea, especially for him. He couldn't stand to see Betty with what's his face. It ate him up every time. "You enjoy yourself, Betty."

"Ok." Betty said finally giving in. Before turning completely, she stopped "Daniel?"

"Yes?" he said looking at her. "Why haven't you gotten any sleep? Is everything ok?" She asked worried. "Everything's fine Betty. I'm just trying to get used to this place. And besides I've just been doing a lot of thinking."

Betty turned completely "About what?" she asked curiously.

"Just life."

She walked closer to him "Like what?"

"Betty...it's nothing..."

"Are you sure? You'd tell me if something was bothering you, right?" she met his eyes and his eyes softened "yes... now, you should go... have fun" he said with a smile. "I'm worried about you." She said looking at his eyes. "Betty, I'm fine. Please...listen, I will tell you..."

"Tell me what?" she asked confused. "...if something is bothering me" he sighed.

"Ok..." she walked over to him and hugged him. He sighed wrapping his arms around her. Betty reluctantly left and went to Becks' room. She knocked on the door looking at the floor still not understanding why Daniel was acting so different all the sudden. When the door opened Becks already started with the 'sweet' talk.

"Well hey there sweetie? Don't you look hot?" he said as he eyed her up and down as he leaned against the door frame. She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Becks, can you stop?"

"What? I can't help it, Betty. When I see a gorgeous woman, my mouth has a mind of its own."

Betty took a deep breath thinking this was going to be an interesting night. "Clearly. You didn't think of me like this when you saw me two years ago?"

"What can I say, you were still young then. Now, you're grown up and look _hot_."

"Thanks, I guess. Listen, I have an extra ticket to this concert. Do you want to go?" She asked holding out a ticket to him. He looked at it and back at her. "With you?" he asked surprised. "Yes."

"You're not taking Daniel?" he asked curiously running his hand through his hair. Betty looked at him, a small frown coming to her face. "He didn't want to come."

"huh." He said dropping his hand to his side. Betty looked at him curiously. "What does that mean?"

"What?" he asked confused. "Your reaction."

"Nothing." Becks promised Daniel he'd keep his mouth shut. "I'll come with you, baby" he said flashing his charming dimpled smile.

"Don't call me that."

"Fine, let's go." He closed his door and walked out with Betty trying to place his arm around her shoulder, but she ended up pushing it off. He smirked walking next to her.

When they got to the concert place, Betty reluctantly danced with Becks until Henry showed up. Becks felt a little strange dancing with her, but he figured it was better that he dance with her than her boyfriend. He wondered why Daniel was so...stupid. He looked to Betty, his hands were around her waist, which she ended up slapping a few times as he instinctively moved them lower. "Sorry about talking to you and touching you like that, Betty."

Betty met his eyes. "I guess it just comes second nature to you. I know you're a charming guy, Becks. You need to stop hitting on every woman you see and not use those cheesy pick-up lines. I think if you just be yourself you would get girls a lot better and who knows maybe you'd meet someone who's perfect for you."

Becks smiled. "Thanks Betty. You really think that?" he asked in appreciation. Betty smiled. "Yes, you're a pretty nice guy _most _of the times" she laughed, making Becks smile "...and besides you're a photographer, that's a pretty nice pick-up in itself, don't you think?" she said with a playful smirk. Becks laughed. "I like you, Betty." Betty rolled her eyes. "Not that way. I just mean, you're pretty great."

Betty smiled. "Thank you, Becks. That's probably the nicest, un-raunchy, thing you've said to me." She laughed. He shot her a charismatic grin. Betty smiled. "Besides Becks, I know someone who thought you were prettyyy charming" she said with a grin. Becks smiled. "Oh ya? She was very nice. Think she'll be around here?" he asked curiously taking a quick glance around. "Maybe. Mr. Moore gave me four tickets. She was the first one I gave an extra to."

"Then maybe I'll get lucky." He said with a flirtatious grin. Betty narrowed her eyes. "Now Becks, you better not hurt her or I'll make sure Alexis is not the only man-gone-woman that Daniel knows." She said with a serious look in her eyes. Becks' eyes went wide. "Woah...Okay there, missy. Man, you're feisty."

"I'm serious! I swear to you Becks if she comes crying to me because you were an asshole...let's just say you'll regret it."

"Alright, alright, sheesh."

Betty laughed at the look in his eyes. "I'm not trying to be mean to you, I just care a lot about her and don't want to see her get hurt, and who knows Becks, maybe you two will actually connect. She's really sweet and smart...and veryyy pretty." She said with a smile. Becks laughed.

"Like I said, I like her" he replied with a smile. Betty smiled.

Becks looked at her thinking she was really nice and very pretty, and she did have a nice smile, assuming that was what Daniel loved about her, but it was more than that, it was her personality that was charming. "Betty, I think I see it."

"What are you talking about?" she asked confused. "Sure you're beautiful and hot." Betty looked at him. She kind of thought it was cool that Becks thought she looked good, but at the same time it annoyed her. "...but it's more than that."

"What?" Betty said not understanding what he was saying. Becks let out an annoyed breath. "You're nice and sweet." Betty smiled "thank you, Becks."

"No wonder he's crazy about you." He mumbled not realizing he said it aloud. "Who?" She asked curiously. "Daniel." "SHIT!" he cursed a second later automatically realizing that he just outted his friend. He ran his hand over his face nervously. Betty stopped letting go of his hands and looked at him. Becks turned and started walking away when Betty called him.

"Becks?" Betty called him, her voice demanding. He took a breath and turned. She walked up to him. "Talk" she said. "Betty, I can't"

"What?"

"I promised, Daniel."

"Promised him what?"

Becks took a breath and looked at her. No doubt she was a fiery one. He could see it in her eyes. "Listen Betty..." Becks was going to try and get out of explaining what he meant, but he figured she should know and he couldn't really escape her fierce eyes. He knew Daniel was an idiot sometimes. Heck he probably would do the same thing. "I'm waiting." She said impatiently.

"Alright, look, Betty... Daniel...he's...he would totally beat my ass if he finds out I told you this, but I think you should just know."

"Know what?" she asked. "Daniel has got it bad."

"What?" she asked confused. "Daniel is crazy about you. He is no doubt in love with you"

"WHAT?" Betty's eyes shot out. "You're kidding." She knew he wasn't. She didn't know why she said that. Maybe it was a natural response that she still couldn't fathom Daniel actually liking her. Sure she had Amanda and Marc, and Allison and Robert and practically everyone that saw them together say that Daniel had feelings for her, and sure she tried to pretend that she didn't know that was true, but somehow hearing it from Becks...

"I kind of wish I was, but I'm not. And I see it. I can see why he loves you so much." Betty was speechless.

"Well, if Daniel was in love with me, why hasn't he told me?" she asked.

"I don't know." He did know why but figured that was too much information that should be told by Daniel. He already said too much. "Listen Betty, _do_ you love Daniel?" he didn't know where that question came from, he was about to dart out of there, but it just came out. "What? He's my friend, Becks."

A smirk came to his face, she didn't say no, he thought. "I'll see you later, Betty. Have a good night." Betty stood there looking at him completely speechless as he walked away.

* * *

Daniel was in his room bored out of his mind. He felt like the loser kid that wasn't invited to parties, except he was invited and he was too stupid to go with the girl he was madly in love with. He sighed. He sure was a moron. He picked up his phone trying to figure out what the hell he was doing anymore. "Daniel honey, how are you?"

"Hey Hilda"

"I haven't heard from Betty since you left. I take it things are going well?" Hilda said hopeful

Daniel sighed.

"What's the matter?" Hilda asked.

"Hilda, I'm in love with your sister."

"I know" Hilda responded

"What? You know? How?" Daniel asked surprised.

Hilda laughed "You told me before you left, hell-ohhh"

"Oh. Right" Daniel sighed again.

"Wow, you got it bad, lover boy." Daniel sighed knowing that was true. "So, what's the matter, does she not love you?"

"Well, uh, I haven't really told her yet. It slipped once, but I don't think she heard me"

"Why haven't you told her yet?" Hilda asked confused. "You've been there for over a week."

"It's not that simple, she's here with what's his face. And she...loves...him." he mumbled.

"Who? Oh, you mean Henry." Hilda laughed.

"She's at a concert right now with him and Becks." He said sadly.

"Honey, if you want my sister, get some cajones and tell her! I know my sister loves you too, but she's stubborn. You need to tell her if you actually want her to know."

"I know you're right."

"Promise me you'll tell her!" Hilda said demandingly.

"I'll tell her." He had to at this point.

"You better! Or I'll make sure she knows …whether it's from you or not!" Hilda said in her 'ill blab if you don't' tone.

Daniel laughed. "Alright. By the way, I'm flying you all out here for Betty's event. Promise to keep it a secret, Hilda. Please! Especially about the other thing"

"Honey, your secret's safe with me… unless you're an idiot and don't tell her you love her. Then I will tell. No promises on that one. But as for the event, my lips are sealed." She said excitedly.

"Thanks Hilda" Daniel laughed. "Alright Hilda I guess I will see you all soon."

"Great. See you and good luck." "Oh, and Daniel?" Hilda said before he was about to get off the phone.

"Uh-huh?"

"I'm on Team Daniel" She said with a laugh.

Daniel laughed "What? You know about that?"

"Please, I know everything."

"I'm sure you do." Daniel laughed. "Bye Daniel, _tell_ Betty!" She said before she hung up.

Daniel laughed. "I will"

* * *

AN: All I have to say about the next chapter is that Daniel finally gets some 'cajones'! hehhe ;)


	29. We're Friends

**Think of The Firefly**

_All I have to say is I LOVE this chapter! hehe :P _

_For entertainment only! _

* * *

**Chapter 29**

**We're Friends**

Daniel was sitting in a chair in his now dim-lit room, his shirt half way un-buttoned and his sleeves rolled up, with a bottle of scotch contemplating drinking the whole bottle; just as he was about to drink a glass, there was a knock on the door. He reluctantly got up from his chair and went to the door.

"Betty?" he said surprised as he opened the door.

"Hi" she said coming in. Daniel looked at her confused "What are you doing here?"

"As I'm sure you're aware there was a power outage, so the party ended."

"Um ok?" he said closing the door and standing next to her.

"Were you going to drink?" Betty asked noticing the bottle of alcohol on the table. "Oh, ya I was about to."

"Why?" Betty asked, knowing that Daniel only went to scotch when something was bothering him. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, everything's fine, Betty…I was just tired and – how was the party, Betty?"

"It was nice. It was great, actually. The music was nice, and everything was so beautiful. I wish you came."

"So, how was he?"

"Oh, Becks was interesting, he said some things that got me thinking, but then he went off. I don't know where he went the rest of the night."

"Oh, what did he say? Was he flirting with you again? I could go talk some sense into him" Daniel said protectively. "No, it's fine Daniel." Betty said smiling.

"Ok, I wasn't actually talking about Becks anyway."

"You mean Henry? Well, Henry had to leave. To go see Charlie" She just made that up. Henry actually ended up staying the whole time. He did, however, go check on Nate on the way home from the party since it ended earlier. She knew she needed to end things with him soon.

"I'm sorry Betty."

"No, it's ok Daniel. We had a great time. I actually spent time with him, so it was nice."

"That's good Betty." he said forcing a smile. "I still can't believe he just left though."

"It's fine." Betty said simply.

He turned to her "No, it's not fine!" he said upset. Betty looked at him a little surprised at his tone. "Betty, someone who is madly in love with you shouldn't treat you like you're second; they should treat you like a princess. Like you deserved to be loved... Don't you get that?"

Betty looked down to the floor unable to hide the small smile coming to her face. She looked back at him. "So, what are you saying?"

"Nothing." He said walking over to the window. "Come on, tell me. What is it Daniel?"

"I can't tell you, Betty." He said quietly.

Betty looked at him "Why not, Daniel?" she looked down at the floor and then back at him thinking about what Becks said. He turned and walked up to her, not too close, but enough to be in her space. "You really want me to tell you?" Betty felt her heart race. "Yes." She said quietly stepping back a little.

"You sure?" he walked closer, which made her step back again and have the back of her knees hit the bed. "uh-huh" she said feeling she was holding her breath. "I am absolutely and completely in love with you. Do you have any idea how crazy you make me? Everything you do freaking makes my heart race." Betty looked at him with wide eyes. "Every time you smile" he turned and walked to the window. "it just makes me remember why I love you so much" Betty felt the tears slide down her face, butterflies making her want to fall back on the bed from how numb she felt from all the tingles. She quickly wiped her tears away.

"Daniel, can you please leave?" she said softly knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist him if he said anything more. She couldn't mess everything up. She didn't know what to do.

"What?" Daniel turned and walked up closer to her somewhat amused that she wanted him to leave his place. He was now only a few inches away from her. She looked at his eyes and already felt her wall come down from the way he was looking at her. She knew she needed him to go away. "Daniel, please get out of he-" before Betty could finish Daniel's lips met hers intensely, his hands moving to her waist pulling her closer to him and kissing her passionately. He couldn't explain how right he felt and how much he anticipated this moment just kissing her with all that was in him. At first, Betty tried to push herself away, but ended up wrapping her arms around him as he deepened the kiss. She wanted to push him away…far away, but found herself pulling him closer and closer to her. The more she fought herself, the more she fell in his embrace. She knew she shouldn't be doing this right now, but she couldn't let go. She just felt so...unbelievable. She couldn't explain how she felt, her heart racing, butterflies going crazy, her skin tingling, a million overwhelming emotions flooding her. Daniel's hands made their way to her face wanting the kiss to last longer; he couldn't believe he was kissing his Betty. He was worried that she would slap him, but when he felt her arms wrap around him and kiss him back just as passionately as he kissed her, he knew she loved him, too. He never wanted to let her go. Betty's heart was pounding like a drum. She couldn't breathe anymore. She never wanted this feeling to end...this terrifying overwhelming feeling. Daniel slowly left her lips to look at her, both of them trying to catch their breath from the rather sensational kiss. "Betty?"

"Daniel..." she started still trying to catch her breath. Daniel smirked "...this shouldn't have happened. Please leave." She said avoiding his eyes, removing his hands from her waist trying to regain her breath.

Daniel smiled, "I know you love me too, Betty."

"I don't love you Daniel... I mean I do, just not that way. I was just, uh… caught in the moment." She knew herself that she was lying. She felt like she just ran a marathon and was trying to catch her breath. Why was he such a great kisser? Daniel smiled looking at her.

"You're lying, Betty. I know you. remember? You can't lie to me." Daniel stood a lot closer to her, his body close enough to hers' to feel the warmth of her body. Betty looked up at him and his eyes that shone from the dim-light in the room; she could smell the cologne from his body, which she took in just moments ago, his warmth sending tingles through her entire body.

Daniel looked down at her thinking she had the most wonderful eyes. "I'm not going to move, Betty. If you don't love me, then we can stand like this for 10 minutes." Betty looked up at him like he was crazy. "I know. This is crazy, but if you love me Betty, we'll see what happens." How did he know exactly what she was thinking? It was infuriating. Betty took a deep breath and stood there. She couldn't explain how intense she felt. She'd never felt so right and perfect all at once. The feeling terrified her.

After 5 minutes, Betty looked up at Daniel to see him looking at her smiling. She rolled her eyes and looked at his shoes. Slowly, Betty looked in front of her, noticing Daniel's shirt half way buttoned, or unbuttoned, she thought. She could slightly see his defined chest. When she noticed he was looking at her, she looked away and to his arms, his tone arms. Damn him, was he trying to seduce her? She looked up to see his face, again. His gorgeous blue eyes were hypnotizing; she felt allured by the blueness. She loved his eyes. Then she looked at his face, his wonderfully handsome face; she loved his smile. She looked at his lips. She never had such an urge to kiss someone. She just wanted to grab him and kiss him again. Betty was fighting every ounce of sanity to keep from attacking him at this moment.

_That_ kiss…Betty looked up to see Daniel smiling still. Ugh, why was he smiling like that? His sweet smile… Betty was getting lost in his smile.

Daniel looked down at Betty. He knew she was fighting herself to keep from touching him or maybe even kissing him. He could tell she was thinking about everything. Daniel looked at her; she had a nice body he thought. All her curves… his eyes wandered from her legs to her hips to her waist to her... he couldn't look at her like that anymore; and he remembered why he couldn't speak when he saw her in that dress. He quickly looked to her face to see her smiling. He loved that gorgeous smile. It always made him smile. Those lips… she had amazing lips. How he wanted those lips on his again. Daniel could tell she noticed him looking at her lips, when she looked down. Some hair fell upon her face. Her hair was so beautiful now. Suddenly there was a beeping sound from his watch. It was time. It had been 10 minutes of pure heaven and torture he thought.

"You're safe, Betty" Daniel said, his voice taking Betty off guard.

"I told you, Daniel. I love you, but not in the way you think." She needed time to think about everything. She still had to deal with Henry, and she didn't want to mess up what she was planning. Daniel just smiled. "Why are you smiling?" She asked somewhat apprehensive.

"Betty, the fact that you stood in front of me for 10 minutes like this, just proves that you love me. If you didn't love me, you wouldn't have even done this."

"What? Daniel! What are you talking about? I don't love you, okay. I…I love, Henry." Even she knew that was not very convincing. She knew she was a terrible liar, especially when it was Daniel she was trying to lie to.

"Betty, I don't believe you. I know you love me babe."

Betty looked up at him, her eyes slightly big in surprise. "Babe?"

"Yes sweetie?" Daniel responded grinning.

Betty sighed "Daniel. Can you just stop, okay? We're friends. That's all." That was another thing that scared her. They were such great friends. She never knew she could feel that way...with him.

"Betty, if that were true honey, you wouldn't have kissed me back, and stood in front of me for 10 minutes staring at me…" he said with a smile. A grin came across his face "oh, and Betty, you're still standing in front of me" Betty quickly stepped back. "…Just thought you should know." He said teasingly.

"Daniel, look. I love you, you're my friend, but I'm _in love_ with_ Henry_. This never happened."

"You can tell yourself that all you want, Betty, but it definitely happened in my book. I love you. But I will give you a week. Your event is in a week, a day before I have to leave to New York. Like I said, I'm not leaving until I know you're happy. If you tell me that you're happy at the party, then I'll leave, happily. I won't bother you. I'll just leave and we can be friends. Right? We can still be friends? Because Betty, I will die if we're not friends, and like you said this never happened, so that means we can still be friends."

Betty laughed slightly at his panic over them being friends. Betty looked at him for a moment. How can he just think like that? She loved that he cared so much about their friendship. She needed to focus. "So… what, you're just going to leave if I say I'm happy here?" she asked, trying to fight back the sadness she felt at that thought.

"Betty, you know where I stand. I told you how I feel about you. When it's time for me to go, if you don't feel the same way and you're happy here with what's his face, then I'll leave, pretending none of this happened, although, I will never pretend that I don't love you, Betty." Daniel said sincerely. Betty looked at him, her heart pounding. How could Daniel feel that way about her? It was crazy. She tried not to show how much what he said made her melt.

"So, do we have a deal, Betty?" he asked pulling out his hand. Betty looked at his hand and then up at him, his face painted with a grin. Betty rolled her eyes and took his hand. "Deal." Quickly Betty added "but, there are rules." Daniel gave her a 'what-are-you-talking-about' face.

"What?"

"1, you can't touch me. No flirting either…" She knew she would fall mercilessly to his charms.

"What? Come on, Betty. I can't flirt with you?" he said teasingly. "Daniel! I'm serious, okay?"

"Fine, Betty. Whatever. I won't have to do any of that." He said with a grin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Betty asked confused. "Don't you worry about that, Betty …I'll go along with your little rules." Daniel was going to make this very interesting for Betty. If she wants to play like nothing happened, he was going to play along.

Betty sighed "okay, do we have a deal?" Daniel looked at her with a very satisfied smirk "What? That's all Betty. No touching and no flirting. Okay, Betty." Betty noticed his smirk, and had a bad feeling "Why does this not bother you?" she asked confused.

"Betty. I'm Daniel Meade, honey."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Betty asked, not sure if she really wanted to know.

"Betty, babe, I can charm a woman a lot more than by touching her or flirting, although, those are what I do best…" he said grinning, with his eyebrows raised. Betty sighed knowing this was going to be a challenge. How was she going to pretend she wasn't madly in love with her best friend? And how the heck did Daniel get so smart all the sudden? Of course he was smart when it came to women. Betty laughed in spite of herself. "Funny Daniel, I'm going to go tell Henry what happened."

"What?" he said shocked grabbing her hand. "You're going to tell him about the kiss?" he asked confused.

"Yes, I don't want him to get upset or anything. I'll just tell him it was joke or something." Although, she didn't know why, she was going to break up with him soon anyways. Her mouth was just spitting out nonsense. Her brain was still fogged from that kiss.

"But Betty this never happened according to you. If this never happened, why would you tell Henry?" Daniel said amused. Betty was entirely annoyed at this point. Why did he have to be right? He really was infuriating, she thought. So adorably infuriating.

Daniel smiled realizing he just won that. "God, Daniel, you're just so…so…" Daniel got closer to her "so, what, Betty?" he asked flirtingly. Betty didn't know what to do, so she just shoved him. Daniel laughed "Did you just shove me?" he asked amused, and slightly surprised. Betty laughed "Daniel, can you just shut up." They both laughed. Daniel was sure that she loved him. If she wasn't in love with him she wouldn't be here laughing with him...or trying to convince herself, rather than him that she didn't love him. He would go along with her false objection. He would slowly break her down. He was going to torture her for a change.

"Can you please leave, Daniel?"

Daniel looked at her amused "Betty, you do know that you're in_ my_ hotel room right now?" he laughed this time.

Betty looked at him embarrassed "oh, right." God, he got her so flustered she didn't even realize where she was.

"You're the one that should leave, but I don't really want you to leave, so you can stay Betty. I'm sure we can figure out things to do" he raised his eyebrow suggestively. "Ugh Daniel, you're so irritating. Bye" She said walking to the door, trying her hardest not to smile.

"Oh and Betty, I'm sorry that kiss made you not be able to think straight."

Betty's eyes got big and turned around "What?"

"Come on, Betty. Admit it, that kiss got you all flustered."

Betty sighed rolling her eyes. Why did he have to know her so well? "Whatever Daniel"

Daniel laughed. "You're so cute, Betty. I'll see you tomorrow."

Betty was in for a torturous week. She knew Daniel wasn't going to make things easy on her. She was somewhat excited. She wanted to tell him how crazy about him she was, but she needed to sort things out first. "Bye Daniel."

"Good night, Betty" Daniel said as Betty got to the door leaving him to ponder what just happened.

* * *

AN: haha :P Daniel is going to make things interesting for her ;)


	30. Playing By The Rules

**Think of The Firefly**

_AN: Helloooo! I'm sorry I've gotten the next part up so late. Anyways, I really hope you still want to read the story! This chapter is nice and long, so hopefully that is ok of an apology! :) Thanks for reading. Please review! I really want to know if you like the story. _**  
**

_For entertainment only! I wish I owned Daniel Meade! :) but I do not :( _

* * *

**Chapter 30**

**Playing By the Rules**

_Week 2, Day 2 of Daniel being in Tucson_

Betty walked into her office feeling very upbeat and happy...for a number of reasons, one in particular who she now saw walking into the office looking so sweet and handsome. He walked into the conference room across from hers to talk to Aaron.

"Betty, Betty!" Jenny said happily running into the office. She ran up next to her, Betty looked to her "What?" she asked smiling. Daniel walked into the office "Hi Betty" he said with a charming smile.

"Hi Daniel" Jenny greeted. "Jenny. How are you this morning?" he said walking over rather suavely. Betty wanted to laugh at him.

"I'm doing great. Thank you. You?" Jenny asked with a grin. "I'm doing rather great, myself." He said with a bright smile looking to Betty. Betty looked away from his gaze.

"Alright, well, you two have a good day. I can guarantee you it _will_ be interesting." He said with a smirk looking to Betty again. She rolled her eyes knowing exactly what he meant. He walked to the door to leave the room, but before walking out he stopped by the door, "Oh and Betty, Aaron and I are heading to the site in a few minutes. I guess I'll see you both there later. I'll text you when we get there" he said with a playful smile. "Bye" he said to them, winking at Betty before walking out. Betty shook her head watching him walk to the other conference room where Aaron was.

"Ooo, what's with you two?" Jenny asked looking at her with a huge grin. Betty looked at her. "Nothing."

"Oh come on! Betty, tell me! What happened?"

Betty smiled. "Daniel kissed me. And he told me he was in love with me"

Jenny's eyes lit up. "Ohhhhh my goddd That is awesomeeee!" she hugged her jumping up. "So, he kissed you huh?" she nudged her arm playfully. "Oh God yes, I still feel butterflies."

"Ooo Betty...so what's happening now?" she asked curiously. "I don't know what to do Jenny. How am I supposed to pretend I'm not completely in love with him?"

Jenny looked down. "Yeh that would probably be really hard, huh?

"I thought I knew what love was before, but God, the way I feel with Daniel its beyond anything I've ever felt." Betty looked in the direction of Daniel and smiled. "I love him. Now I know Henry wasn't right for me. I mean, I loved him, but it isn't anything like I feel with Daniel. I can't explain it. I just...wow." Betty looked to Jenny. Jenny had an admiring smile on her face. "Am I crazy Jenny?"

"No way, Betty. That's so beautiful. I'm so happy that you found that with him. I can tell that he loves you so much. Why else would he be here? And everything you told me he's done for you. That's love, Betty. I mean, I know Henry loves you, but wow...Daniel sure has a way of showing it and saying it. Like everything he does just screams that he loves you" Betty smiled and glanced in the direction of Daniel. "And besides, he's your best friend. That is probably the best part about it." Betty smiled looking back to Jenny. "Yeah. I think so, too" she smiled dreamily. "Oo!" Jenny squealed excitedly.

Betty laughed. "Ok, so what were you so happy about when you ran in here?" Betty asked curiously.

"Oh my God, I went on a date with Becks last night and he is so amazing."

"Really?" Betty raised her eyebrow hoping that it would be good. "Yes, I was walking into that concert you gave me a ticket to and Becks was leaving. He told me it was lame and he was heading out, but he said he would stick around for a while to keep me company" Jenny smiled. "We danced a little bit, and then he said 'let's ditch this place and I'll take you to dinner'."

"Wow, really?"

Jenny smiled. "We had such a great time. He's so much fun to talk to and he told me about some of the places he's been because of his photography. I don't know, we just had a good time. Then he walked me home, even though it wasn't close and we probably should have taken a cab."

Betty smiled brightly. "And guess what?" Jenny said with a bright smile. "He said he was supposed to leave to New York today, but he 'found something to stick around for'"

"Oh that's great Jenny. Looks like he really likes you, too" Betty was rather relieved that Becks seemed to behave himself. Jenny bit her lip "I like him, too."

When Daniel and Aaron got to the site, Betty, as promised, got a text from Daniel.

_Hey Betty_

_We r here now. Get ur cute face over here!_

_~Daniel_

Betty smiled showing Jenny the text. She ended up telling Jenny about their rules and their 'deal'. Jenny ended up laughing hysterically thinking this was going to be fun and very amusing. Jenny, although knowing Daniel only a short time, knew that he was going to make things difficult for Betty and that he wouldn't back down, especially now that it's all out in the open.

She replied.

_No flirting Meade! We'll b there soon! :P_

_~Betty_

An hour later Jenny and Betty made their way to the site. Everything for the event seemed to be going well so far. They had sent out a press release, had an ad on the radio and even notified local schools of the event, especially the colleges. They even got more sponsors...thanks to Daniel. He was really good at that. When Betty and Jenny walked to the site, they could just envision everything coming to life. Daniel saw them and walked over; Jenny went to talk to Aaron. When Daniel approached Betty and saw her smile he couldn't help it he grabbed her to him and kissed her passionately. Betty's eyes went wide, but she felt herself get lost in the kiss for a moment; she loved his lips on hers, she realized what was going on and pushed him back. "Daniel, what the heck do you think you're doing?" she said looking at him.

He smiled like a child trying to get out of having done something he wasn't supposed to. Betty wanted to laugh. "Daniel, don't give me that smile. You know you're not supposed to touch me or flirt with me. You already broke both of those rules today."

"Betty, why don't you just admit that you love me and none of that will matter." He said with a smirk stepping closer to her. "If you break the rules one more time..." she started

"What? Three strikes, I'm out? What's the punishment?" he asked curiously interrupting her trying to be funny, but actually curious by what she would do. "Just stop it, Daniel!" she shook her head. "Fine, you have to buy me all the ice cream I want." She said with a smirk folding her arms across her chest.

Daniel smiled really big. Betty looked at him in confusion. "What?" she asked wondering what his smile was about

"Are you sure that isn't a challenge, Betty?"

"What?"

"You get ice cream and I get to touch you. Sounds like a win-win to me." He said with a playful grin. "It's actually a double-win for you. You have ice cream AND me!" he said smiling brightly. Betty couldn't hold back her laugh. "Shut-up, Daniel. No, okay. Don't touch me!" she said with a laugh. She knew that wasn't very convincing...it came out more as an invitation.

He raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure you DON'T want me to touch you? Sounds like you do" he said stepping closer to her with a smirk. "NO! Stop it!" She stepped back. Why did he have to be so adorably infuriating?

"Are you sure? Because I'll gladly buy you all the ice cream you waaant" he said playfully looking at her seductively. Betty shook her head and turned around to walk away, a smile making its way to her face.

"You're a mess!" she shouted back. "You know you love it!" he shouted back, a grin coming to his face. Betty shook her head, a blush coming to her face as she walked away.

A while later Betty was helping with the decorations and lights, when Daniel walked over and stood next to her. Betty felt butterflies from his intoxicating presence. Just him being around her or looking at her made her heart speed up. She couldn't stop thinking about how passionately he kissed her. It didn't help that said man was standing right next to her invading her space with his sexy scent and those gorgeous eyes looking at her and that signature 'Daniel Meade' smirk. Why was he standing so close? Betty glanced up at him. "Daniel, what are you doing?" Betty asked nervously. "I'm not doing anything, Betty." Daniel said sarcastically. "Daniel. You're standing too close to me."

"What? I can't stand next to you, Betty. That wasn't one of the rules. You just said I couldn't touch you. I'm not touching you, Betty. Although, I wouldn't mind." He said raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Just stop it, Daniel." Betty sighed, but couldn't help smiling at Daniel's games. Daniel laughed, noticing he made her smile. She slapped his arm as she passed by him. Daniel laughed watching her walk away. He wanted to kiss her again. Now he was addicted to those lips.

Betty sighed. Daniel wasn't backing down. She couldn't say she hated it. In fact she was happy that he wasn't giving up on her. Why couldn't he just wait one week? Now she had to pretend that she didn't love him because she did love him and that is what she wanted to show him. Betty sighed as she got to where the stage was. "Betty? What's wrong?" Aaron asked looking at her. "Oh, uh, sorry Aaron. It's nothing." Betty sat along the edge of the stage "How are things going over here?" She asked going through the check list on her clipboard and then glancing up at him. "They're well Betty. Don't you worry, we will not let you down." He said assuredly. Betty smiled looking at him. "I know you won't. You're doing amazing. I couldn't have done any of this without you all."

Aaron smiled. Betty smiled but glanced past him watching Daniel directing people how and where to set the lights and decorations. Aaron sat up next to her looking at her face. She looked at him to see him looking at her intently. "What?" she asked wondering why he was watching her so fixedly. "I don't get it" he said softly. "What?"

"Why aren't you telling him how you feel about him?" he asked. Betty sighed. "I don't know. I thought of doing something to surprise him, but now I'm just confused." she sighed placing her face in her hands. "Surprise him?" he asked interested. "Ya..."

"How?" he asked curiously. Betty smiled "Well, if I told you that I'd be ruining the surprise, wouldn't I?" she said with a smirk. Aaron rolled his eyes nudging her shoulder with his. "Alright, being miss big secret are you?" She shrugged with a playful smile.

"But you do?" he asked.

"I do what?" she asked confused. He just smiled and looked in the direction of Daniel. Betty followed his gaze. "Oh...ya, I do." She said with a smile. He looked to her with a smirk. "Women" he shook his head. "So damn complicated. Why do you have to make things so hard for us guys?"

Betty laughed "I'm not trying to be"

He shoved her lightly "So how long are you going to torture him?" he asked curiously. "Torture him? He's torturing me."

"I don't know about that. I think he's loved you for a while now. You've been torturing him. I'm surprised he hasn't exploded by now."

Betty giggled. "One more week" she said looking at him. "Poor guy" Aaron shook his head in sympathy. Betty leaned next to him and whispered in his ear. His smile got big "Okay. You have my approval."

Betty smiled brightly. "Think it will be okay?"

"Yes. I'd be happy." He smiled looking at her.

"Hey" Daniel said as he approached them. "Hi" they both said looking at him. Daniel looked at them awkwardly running his hand through his hair. They looked at him curiously. "What is it Daniel?" Betty asked wondering why he was just standing there. Aaron jumped off the ledge of the stage "I'll work on the check list, Betty." he said taking it from her looking at her with a grin. A small smile came to her face. Daniel looked at them curiously. As Aaron walked away, Daniel came and sat next to her. "What was all that about?"

"What?" she asked. "You and Aaron. Looked like he was flirting with you." He said protectively. Betty smiled. "We weren't." she said simply.

"What were you talking about?" he asked glancing at her. Betty looked to him and then looked ahead of her leaning back planting her hands on the stage. "About the event. Nothing really."

"Didn't look like nothing." There was silence for a few seconds. He leaned back just as she was, placing his right hand on her left. "Were you talking about me?" he asked with a smirk. Betty closed her eyes for a nanosecond at the contact which sent a shock through her body. She reveled in that brief moment and quickly moved her hand. "No. Is it so hard for you to believe that I think about things other than you?"

He leaned forward resting his face on his knuckles. He smirked. "Yes." She laughed and shoved him. "Hey no touching Ms. Suarez!" he said playfully. Betty laughed again shaking her head. "So what, do we both owe each other ice cream, now?" he said with a grin.

Betty started laughing hysterically thinking this was all way too funny. Daniel looked at her with a smile. There was no way that she didn't love him. That he was sure of. That's okay. He would go along with her for a while. When Betty finally gained composure she noticed everyone had stopped what they were doing and were now watching her with amused smiles on their faces. She blushed and jumped down from the stage. "Get to work!" she said trying to be serious, but unable to hide her smile. Everyone just laughed and went back to what they were doing. Daniel shook his head watching her for a few minutes while she 'worked' on things.

She just lit up a room. When Daniel lost hope of her possibly loving him a couple of times he tried to talk himself out of loving her but the more he thought about why he 'shouldn't' love her he loved her more. Just her smile alone made it impossible for him not to be crazy in love with her. He smiled looking at her, getting down from the stage to help get things fixed up.

They all continued to work on things throughout the day. Daniel really did try to behave himself with Betty. He didn't want to push her too much. Even he knew his limits. Well, sometimes. He smirked at the thought. It was around sunset when everyone had left for the day and Betty was doing last minute checks on what they had done for the day. Daniel was sitting in the grass watching her. Betty walked up next to him where the stage was making sure the sound equipment was hooked up. She smiled at Daniel as she walked up the stairs. As soon as she did the last check she came down the stairs and sat in the grass somewhat close to him. She leaned against the stage letting out a breath.

"Long day, huh?" he said leaning back too. "ya" she sighed. "We're making good progress" he said proudly. Betty smiled. "Ya, we are. I'm very impressed with how great things are looking and coming along."

He nodded in agreement. Betty closed her eyes for a few moments just relishing in the peaceful quiet and the cool grass beneath her. Daniel looked at her and wanted nothing more than to kiss her. She looked so calm despite all the stress of everything happening around her. He loved how the reddish orange glow of the setting sun was hitting her face. The shadows the light cast beneath her lips and how her hair lightly fell across her face. He smiled looking at her face. "I love you" he said feeling his heart race and a fluttering feeling inside him. She opened her eyes and looked at him "What are you doing?"

"What? I'm just telling you I love you. That is not flirting Betty, and I'm certainly not touching you."

"Why?"

He looked at her confused. "Why what? Why am I telling you I love you?"

"Ya?"

"That's a strange question don't you think? Do you really have to have a reason for telling someone you love them? I just figure if I tell you I love you every day, then...maybe you'll love me back." He said looking at her and then looking away. Betty felt a tear escape her eye. She quickly wiped the tear from her face. Daniel looked to her "What?" he asked noticing her face expressed concern or sadness, he wasn't sure. "Nothing..."

"You ok?" he asked looking at her eyes. She forced a smile. "Ya, I'm fine. I should probably head home. It's getting late. And I'm tired."

"Oh okay." He said sadly, not wanting Betty to leave. She got up glancing at him "I guess I'll see you tomorrow or something." She got her things. "I really do love you, Betty." He said looking up at her.

Betty felt her heart race. She felt like crying. She just smiled. "I know."

He looked at her disappointed. "Good night" he said looking away.

"Good night" she looked at him sadly and left, her eyes stinging the farther she got.

Daniel sighed lying on the grass staring up at the bright blue sky, the orange hues of the sun tinting it. He closed his eyes; he felt the wetness in his eyes surface from closing them tight. He felt the warmth from the sun and the coolness of the grass. For some reason that reminded him of Betty; he smiled. He loved Betty and he was going to work to get her love. For the first time in his life he actually felt like he deserved something...and now, it was the best thing possible and that was Betty's love. He was just going to have to be patient as difficult as that might be. He knew she loved him though. He didn't understand why she wouldn't admit it. He went through different explanations. All he knew was he wasn't giving up. He still had until he had to leave to pour his love out to her. He would keep every promise he made to her whether he wanted to or not. The flirting and touching...he would just tweak to work for him. He shook his head at himself. He took a deep breath and got up to take a much needed run.

As soon as Betty got home she put her things inside and went to the mountains. She sat at the edge and looked out at the city as light tears rolled down her face. She knew she was making things more complicated than they really needed to be. The only thing keeping her from telling him how much her heart burned for him and only him was her own love for him. It made no sense, yet it somehow made perfect sense to her. She hoped he would get it. The first thing she had to do was to tell at least Henry the truth and that was what she was going to do...

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_AN: Hope you liked this part! :) Please review! I know I'm torturing poor Daniel here, I feel sad too! but no worries it will all be worth it in the end! :D_


	31. Lose a Love, Gain a Friend

**Think of The Firefly**

_AN: Hi! I know it's been too long for an update. Sorry! I would really like to thank and dedicate this chapter, well technically this whole story is dedicated to you, but to BettytheBonita for constantly inspiring and motivating me. LOVEE YOUUU! :) _

_and Thank you to all of you that read my stories! I truly appreciate each and every one of you! :D Thank you! Especially, to those of you that take the time to review! Lots of love! =)_

_Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's pretty long. And I really enjoyed writing it! :)_

_For entertainment only! _

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**Chapter 31 **

**Lose a Love, Gain a Friend**

Daniel had gone to the park for a much needed run to blow off some steam. He kind of enjoyed the dry air piercing through his lungs. It was a strange sensation. He had been running for an hour now. He didn't know how he was running so long. He wasn't anything in shape like he was when he was in college. He knew his energy was diminishing. He decided to put some speed on the last five minutes of the run. He sped up and was making the curve when he ran into someone who was walking in the opposite direction. They both pummeled to the floor at the impact. "Oww" they both said rubbing their backsides. When they looked up they both laughed. "Ashley?" Daniel laughed getting up and pulling her up. "Daniel."

"I'm sorry about running into you. I didn't see you."

Ashley smiled. "It's okay." Daniel automatically panicked. "Oh God, the baby" He looked at her worriedly. "It's ok. I think I'm fine." She said trying to calm him.

"Are you sure?" he asked in concern placing his hand on her arm. She smiled. "I didn't fall on my stomach or anything. It was my butt." She giggled. Daniel laughed. "Okay, but please, I'd feel better if you check at the doctor or something."

Ashley smiled. "Okay." Daniel let out a tense breath. "Relax. Daniel, give me your hand?" Daniel looked at her oddly but complied with the request. She held his hand and placed it to her stomach. He looked at her eyes in wonder. She smiled. "My baby is blessed to have met you" she giggled. Daniel smiled brightly. "Nothing but goodness can come from you." She said with a genuine assuredness.

Daniel smiled and couldn't help the wetness in his eyes. She let go of his hand and he moved it across his eyes and down his face not understanding how much this beautiful young woman put her faith in him. She was just like Betty. He could understand how Eric loved her so much. It made Daniel love Betty even more at the thought. He looked at her again with a heartfelt smile. She smiled.

After a few seconds, Eric ran up bending slightly to catch his breath. "Ash, hun, I saw you fall. are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Ashley smiled. "Look who I ran into." She said with a grin. "Or should I say, ran into me." She said with a snicker. Daniel laughed.

Eric smiled "Hey, Daniel! Good to see you, man." He held his hand out to him. Daniel smiled and shook it.

"Daniel, are you busy? Why don't you have dinner with us?" Ashley said looking to Eric. "Ya, we'd love to have you, Daniel." He added.

Daniel smiled. "Really?" he asked happily. "Of course." Ashley said with a bright smile. Daniel smiled. "Great. That'd be awesome." He said happily. They walked through the park and not much farther made it to their really nice townhouse.

Meanwhile Betty was trying to build up the courage to finally tell Henry that she was in love with Daniel. She took a deep breath and made her way down the mountains to conquer one of her fears, hurting people she cared about. The closer she got to the bottom, the more tears fell down her face for many reasons, one, making Daniel believe that she didn't love him, and the second, making Henry believe that she _did_ love him. Well, she did, but not the way he may have thought. She got to the foot of the house wiping away her tears and taking another deep breath.

She opened the door and walked in to see Henry sitting on the couch reading something. She walked over, her heart racing. He smiled when he noticed her. She noticed his smile wasn't as bright as it usually was.

Henry knew what was coming. He had anticipated this moment since he realized Betty's feelings for Daniel. He just didn't know how to confront her about it, and now, she was going to. He could just feel it coming. He felt his chest tighten. Betty sat down next to him. She gave him a half smile. "Hi"

Henry smiled. "Hi"

"What are you reading?" she asked trying to build the courage to just tell him. "This book a co-worker told me I should read."

"Okay. Is it good?" she asked looking at his eyes. He took her hand in his looking at it. "Betty." His eyes met hers. She took a deep breath and slipped her hand away slowly.

"Henry, umm...I uh...I need to talk to you." Betty said nervously looking at her hands, her heart speeding up again.

"I know." Henry said with a sad smile.

"You know?" Betty asked confused and surprised looking up at him.

"Yes." He said simply.

"What?" She asked.

"I know you love Daniel, Betty" he said plainly. Betty looked at him in surprise. "You do?"

"Yes."

"How do you..."

"It's just something I know." He said teasingly. Betty stifled a small laugh despite the tears welling up.

"Listen Betty..." He took her hand again. "I'm not stupid. I could see it in your eyes. I see how you look at him and how you talk about him. He's always been the guy for you, Betty. A really big reason why I was so happy that you were with me in Tucson was because you were away from Daniel. I know that's selfish of me, but I wanted you to myself. It didn't take a genius to realize why Daniel came here, Betty. I know he came for you. I could see that he loved you, too. And I saw how you loved him. Basically, he made me realize I was being an idiot and not paying enough attention to you. When you told me you loved me..."

The tears fell down her face as she looked down. He brought his hand under her chin and made her look at him. He looked at her eyes. "I know you love him, Betty. Not me." He said wiping the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry, Henry." She said sadly looking at his glossy eyes.

"Don't be, Betty. I'm just happy that I even had a chance of loving you." He said with a light smile.

Betty smiled despite the waterfall of tears that escaped her eyes. He squeezed her hand bringing the other hand to her face. "Betty, can I kiss you one last time?" he said looking at her eyes. Betty nodded quietly. He smiled bringing his other hand to her face and pulled her closer to kiss her. It was a slow sweet kiss. When his lips left hers he placed his forehead against hers. "I hope we can still be friends." He said, his eyes closed trying to relish that kiss. "Me too. I do love you." She said bringing her hands to the back of his neck. Henry smiled and moved back from her.

"I love you, too. Listen...I'm uh...going to go for a walk. I'll be back later, okay?" he said getting up. Betty stood up "Okay. Are you okay?" she asked knowing that was probably a stupid thing to ask. Of course he wasn't okay. She broke his heart.

"I will be." He smiled placing his hand on her shoulder. Betty hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her. "You can stay here as long as you need to." he said softly. "I really hope you stay here for a while." He said not sure if that was pushing his luck.

"Okay."

Henry smiled and let go of her heading out. Betty sighed taking a seat at the foot of the stairs, her head in her hands, tears running down her face. She couldn't really understand how...understanding he was and calm. That somehow made her feel worse. She really hoped that they could somehow be friends. She decided she would like that. She wiped her tears again and headed up the stairs to her room.

Henry walked out and sat along the edge of the mountains. Although he knew that was coming, he still felt his heart break. He thought that because he already knew it would hurt less, but it didn't. He was happy that he could still be friends with Betty though. Maybe it would be better for them to be friends. He decided he was going to be a good friend to Betty. She deserved that from him. He wasn't much of a good boyfriend to her. She deserved better. He smiled knowing that Daniel would always make sure she was happy. He always did.

Daniel, Ashley and Eric were sitting at the dining table getting ready to eat. "So Daniel, how are things with your friend?" Eric asked curiously. Daniel had a mix of a smile and a frown. Ashley looked at him intently. "They're...weird." he said not knowing what to say.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked confused. "Well, I told Betty that I was in love with her..."

Ashley and Eric smiled brightly "You did?" she asked happily.

"ya, but she's saying she doesn't love me...but I know she loves me." He said letting out a frustrated breath playing with his food. Ashley looked at his eyes. "So, what happened? She told you she didn't love you?"

"Yes...I made this deal with her that I would give her until her event to decide if she loves me." He sighed in frustration. "God, am I stupid?" he placed his face in his hands. Ashley brought her hand to his arm. "You're definitely NOT stupid, Daniel. She's being very stupid, if you ask me. Should I go talk some sense into her?" she said equally frustrated as Daniel. Daniel brought his hands down. "No" he mumbled.

Eric patted him on the back. "The way I see it is you have a week to show this girl how much you love her. It's obvious you'd go to the ends of the earth for her, so you make her see that, she'll be coming to you like her life depended on it."

Daniel smiled. "That's my plan. We made some stupid deal where I wasn't allowed to flirt with her or touch her, but well I sort of bent the rules to benefit me." He said with a smirk. Ashley and Eric smiled. "She makes no sense. She seemed very much "flirty" with me and she didn't really get mad at me for messing around and flirting with her."

Ashley looked intrigued. "She even told me that if I touched her or flirted with her I owed her ice cream."

"That does NOT sound like she doesn't love you, Daniel." Ashley giggled. "In fact it sounds just the opposite. If she wasn't in love with you, she probably would have slapped you for all those things you did, especially if she had a boyfriend."

Daniel looked at her. "Seems like that's really the best she could think of to try and keep you at a distance; which seems to not be working in her department." Ashley giggled.

"It kind of sounds like _she' is _flirting with_ you_." Eric added. Daniel grinned. "I kissed her twice" he said with a happy smile. Both Ashley and Eric laughed at how happy he seemed because of that.

"Well, how did she react?" Ashley asked curiously. Daniel smiled and took a bite of his food.

"Oh come on, Daniel! Tell us!" Ashley said anxiously.

Daniel laughed. "That is what made me know that she loved me too. It was so passionate. She definitely kissed me back. She could barely breathe after we kissed." He said with a grin. Eric laughed patting him on the back. Ashley laughed shaking her head.

"And the second time she almost got lost in the kiss. I could tell, but then she slapped me and told me that I broke the rules." He said with a playful smirk. Ashley giggled hysterically making Daniel and Eric join in the laugh. Her laugh was infectious.

They all continued to enjoy their dinner and chatting about other things like Ashley's promotion and Eric's job at being a little league baseball coach and also working at a Children's hospital. When Daniel found that out he looked to Ashley with a knowing smile. She blushed and touched her stomach under the table. She kind of really wanted to tell Eric now, but thought it would be more special on their anniversary. What better way to celebrate them being together than by having him know that they were bringing a baby into their world. She was smiling brightly at the thought when Eric and Daniel looked at her.

"What are you so happy about, sweetie?" Eric asked curiously noticing that bright smile of hers and her luminous amber eyes. "Oh...uh...nothing...Just um...I like having us together. Daniel feels like family." she smiled looking at him. Daniel felt his heart open up. He didn't understand how she could always make him feel so special. He felt like they were his family away from home, too. He loved their company and felt like they were his brother and sister somehow. They all got along so well and talked like old friends. He wished Betty could be here with them. One day, perhaps they would all be having dinner together like this as a family. He smiled "I love being around you two. Thanks for inviting me tonight." He said gratefully.

"Of course. You are welcome anytime, Daniel." Ashley said happily. "Ya, we really enjoy your company." Eric added.

Daniel smiled "Thank you."

It was an hour later when Henry made his way back in the house and up to Betty's room happy to see that the door was open. He stood there looking at her. Betty opened her eyes to see him. She sat up looking at him with a smile, happy that he was back. He smiled. "Can I uh...come in? ...as a friend?" he said with a smile.

Betty smiled and nodded. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She crawled over and pulled him back so they were both lying down on the bed. Henry was a little surprised at her action and even more so when she placed her arm around him. He smiled. "I really want to be your friend." He said in a soft whisper. Betty smiled looking up at him. "I'm glad. I want to be your friend too."

He smiled and kissed her forehead sweetly. "That was a friendly kiss." He said with a smirk. Betty giggled.

"Thanks, friend." She giggled again making Henry laugh. He brought his arm around her, a tear sliding down his face. It wasn't a sad tear. He was happy. They both dozed off happy that they were on good terms.

Daniel was leaving after having some delicious cocoa that Eric made for them. "Good night, Daniel. Hope to be seeing you again, soon." Eric said putting out his hand. Daniel smiled shaking it. "Yes, that would be great."

"Eric, sweetie, I'm going to walk Daniel outside."

"okay Ash." He kissed her cheek. "I'll clean up." Ashley smiled and kissed him again.

She turned and walked out with Daniel. "I'm glad you came tonight, Daniel. We really had a blast talking to you. I don't think we've laughed that hard before. You have an interesting life there at MODE." she giggled.

"Ya, you have no idea." He smirked.

"Be safe." Ashley said pulling him in for a hug. "Thank you, Ashley. For being so kind to me and thinking of me as family."

"Of course. Someday, you'll be uncle Daniel." She said with a smile. Daniel smiled and hugged her again. "I would love that." He said happily trying really hard to suppress the tears he felt.

"God, I don't know how you always make me feel like crying." Daniel said as he pulled away with a grin. Ashley smiled. "You're a good person."

"Thank you." He said sincerely. "You make me love Betty even more."

Ashley smiled brightly. "Really? How?"

"You're so nice. And your laugh and smile...they make me think of Betty. And you seem to think I'm special and a good person. Betty is the only other person that ever made me feel that way."

Ashley smiled. "That Betty is a lovely girl. I'm sure she loves you." She said with a positive smile. "Thanks Ashley. Oh and please make sure everything's okay...with you know." He said nodding to her stomach. "I will." She hugged him again. "Good night."

"Good night. Thank Eric for me again. You better let me know what happens when you tell him." He said with a grin.

Ashley smiled. "I will"

"bye." Daniel smiled and headed back to the hotel feeling very happy. He couldn't really understand how lucky he was to have met them. Now he knew he would have a family in Tucson. He would be Uncle Daniel. He smiled at the thought. Now his other goal...have Betty ADMIT that she loved him and make her his wife! He smiled even brighter.

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AN: Thanks for reading! hope you enjoy it! :) best! I love Eric and Ashley and can't help but have them in the story more! haha :P


	32. Planning is Sweet, but You're Not

**Think of The Firefly**

****_Hi guys. I'm so so so SORRY for updating so late. I don't realize how fast time goes by and things have been kind of crazy this past week and a half. I hope you still want to read the story. The good thing is I'm mostly done with the next so I should have it up sometime later tonight. :P _

_Thanks for reading! and to all of you that review! I thank you very much! :) Hope you continue to enjoy it! :P_

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**Chapter 32**

**Planning is Sweet, but You're Not**

_Week 2, Day 5 of Daniel being in Tucson. as you can see it skips a few days from the previous chapter, but there are some flashbacks of what happened in those two days. _

Daniel had been staring at the cup of coffee in front of him for five minutes now. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he just go to New York and forget any of this happened? He didn't want to give up on Betty, but after what she did and said yesterday, he felt hurt. He hadn't spoken to her since yesterday afternoon, he ignored all her calls and texts, he could have easily packed up and left last night like she told him to, but he needed to calm down and not overreact. He didn't know why she was so mad at him and said all those hurtful things to him. He needed to find out, but right now he couldn't see her.

He sighed.

Everything seemed fine two days ago. They'd worked together well. He was even respectful to her and didn't flirt with her as much and give her a hard time. He was on his best behavior and just acted like they were friends. She invited him to go to this event that Mr. Moore wanted her to check out. She invited stupid Henry. He thought they all had a good time, even despite Betty dancing with Henry practically all freaking night. Daniel was glad he met that Melissa girl. She was nice. At least he didn't look pathetic all night moping about Betty...well, at least the last half of the night.

_Daniel was sitting by the bar getting a drink. He wasn't drinking it though. He just kind of stared at the glass. He knew he had to be miserable when he wasn't even drinking the scotch he ordered. _

"_What's the matter there, cutie?" Daniel turned to see a very attractive young woman to his side. The beautiful medium length black dress she was wearing seemed to enhance the brightness of her long golden locks and green eyes. She shot him a friendly smile. He smiled "I don't really know..." he said trying to avoid glancing in the direction of Betty. _

"_Come on, there has to be something" she said taking a seat in the stool next to him. _

"_Why's that?" he asked curiously. _

"_Well, a handsome man such as yourself wouldn't be sitting here staring at that scotch you ordered if there wasn't something." She said sliding the glass toward her, then picking it up and taking a drink. She placed it back on the bar "That's a good scotch" she said looking at him. He raised his eyebrow in slight fascination. She smirked._

"_Such a scotch expert?" he said looking at the glass and back at her. _

_She smiled "My father owns this place. He only orders the best" _

_Daniel nodded in understanding. She looked at him spinning in her stool so she was completely facing him. "So?" _

"_So?" he asked looking at her. _

"_What is a hottie like you doing sitting around looking so...well, sad" she said with a sympathetic smile. He smiled politely "long story" he said plainly. _

"_I've got time" she said spinning in her chair, so that her back was leaning against the bar. He looked at her. She looked to him with a playful smile. He was somewhat surprised by her youthful demeanor...she acted like a very young girl. He assumed she couldn't be older than 20, but he knew she was older since she took a drink._

"_Hey Daniel! You've got to try this drink" Betty said approaching him with a smile holding out the drink to him. He smiled loving how happy she got over small things. He looked at her eyes smiling and took a sip surprised by how great it tasted. "Wow that is good." She smiled moving the drink away from him rather slowly. The girl looked at them observantly. _

"_That's my father's specialty. He mixes dragon fruit juice in it" she said proudly. Daniel smiled looking to her. _

"_Wow, dragon fruit?" Betty said in fascination looking at her and then looked at Daniel curiously. "So, what do you think of this place?" she asked stealing another glance at the very pretty woman sitting next to him. "It's cool. I like it. They've got great drinks" he said with a smirk looking to the girl. She smiled back. _

_He looked to Betty and smiled. "This is my friend, Betty. And...I'm sorry; I didn't get your name."_

"_It's Melissa." She said with a flirtatious smile. "I'm Daniel, by the way." He said putting his hand out to her. She smiled and shook it glancing at Betty to see her looking at him rather intently. "Betty, her father owns this place." Daniel added. _

"_Oh, cool" Betty said looking at her with a smile. "Nice to meet you both" Melissa replied. Betty nodded. "Hey Betty" Henry called over to her. She looked at him and back to Daniel. He smiled._

"_I'll catch up with you" she said looking down and back up. He smiled. "Okay." She smiled and walked off glancing at Daniel before she left. Melissa watched them. When Betty finally walked away, Daniel looked back to her to see a grin on her face. "What?" he asked._

_She spun in her chair and faced him again "you like her, huh?" _

"_How do you know?" he asked as if she wasn't supposed to know. She smirked. "I could practically feel your heart race." He looked at her shocked. _

"_So, is she your 'long story'?" she said with a knowing smirk. _

_He was about to get defensive, but just nodded "ya"_

_She smiled leaning forward, her elbows resting on her exposed knees and her face in her hands looking at him attentively. Daniel couldn't get over how young she acted. He laughed in amusement. "Come on. I've got nowhere to be. You've got a story. I've got ears to listen. I'm up to listen to a story, so talk." _

_He smiled "okay." Her eyes lit up making him laugh. He went on to tell her about Betty and how they met, and when they worked together, how he followed her and everything that happened up until that point. He wouldn't be surprised if all of Tucson knew that he was in love with Betty by the time he left. She smiled looking at him. "That's a great story. You could write a book of your life. I hope things work out." She said with a hopeful smile. "Thanks."_

_Melissa smiled and glanced in the direction of Betty to see her trying to 'discretely' keep her eyes on Daniel. She smiled shaking her head. She looked at Daniel and got an idea. She put her hand on his "Don't worry, Daniel. I'm sure she'll come around. You're a very romantic, sweet guy. She'd be insane to let you get away" she said positively making him smile. "Thanks Melissa"._

_She smiled grabbing his hand and pulling him up. "Where are we going?" he asked slightly worried about what her intentions might be. She looked back at him "we're friends, right?" she said with a genuine smile. Daniel smiled. "Ya"_

"_Alright then, let's dance" she pulled him along to the DJ station and told the guy to play some fun dance songs. She held his hand the whole time. From being very observant of people, she could see that Betty was jealous, so she knew just what to do to stir her up. When she told the DJ what to play she walked Daniel over to the center of the stage and started dancing with him just having fun with him. She knew that with Daniel and Betty "fun dancing" would prove more successful than "dirty dancing" since they were best friends. She and Daniel were having a great time ...like 'friends' would, and she could see that her plan was working since Betty's eyes never left him. She was surprised when Daniel invited her to have dinner with them, which was even better because that made Betty even more jealous. _

_Melissa found it very sweet when Daniel made sure she got home safely when they dropped her home. He even walked her to the door to thank her for hanging out with him so he didn't feel like a third wheel. _

_If Daniel wasn't completely in love with Betty, she would have asked him out. He was so super sweet and charming, and handsome. That Betty was one lucky girl to have someone like him love her so much. _

"Hey son, what's troubling you?"

Daniel looked up from his coffee to see the older man, John. "Nothing" he replied looking back to his coffee.

"Trouble with your friend?" he said taking a seat across from him. Daniel looked at the older man surprised that he just took a seat. He sighed. "We got into a huge fight yesterday."

"What for?" the man asked curiously.

"I don't even know!" he sighed in frustration. "Yesterday we were working on her event. I don't know why, but she was barely talking to me. I figured it was the stress of the event hitting her again, so I just tried to help her as much as I could."

He looked back down at his coffee and swirled it then looked back up at the man. "It was around noon when I was trying to help her with something and she snapped and told me to leave her alone and that she could handle it. I kind of got angry because she'd been rude to me that whole morning when I was only trying to help, so I yelled at her.

'_Can you just leave?" Betty said in a loud voice. _

"_What's the matter? I'm trying to HELP YOU!" Daniel yelled in equal frustration. _

"_I don't need your help! Just go back to New York and leave me alone!" She yelled back. The staff looked at them curiously wondering what happened._

Daniel sighed and looked down at the cup again. "She said some mean things to me" he said sadly.

"_Fine! Then I should have never come here in the first place!" he said angrily. _

"_Fine! Then you can go back to being that sleazy man-whore that doesn't care about anyone again!" She said automatically regretting it. Daniel's eyes went wide for a second. Everyone looked shocked at them. He wondered why she would say that, but the hurt of what she said sank in more. _

"_Daniel, I'm-" she started to say, but he put his hand up to her to stop her from talking. "You want me to go, I'll go" he said quietly and walked away. Betty felt the tears in her eyes. She looked down feeling embarrassed that everyone saw__ and heard __her say that to him. _

Daniel sighed putting his head on the table. "I don't know what to do" he mumbled peeking through his hand looking at the man. John smiled. "You're here, aren't ya? You could have left. Give her some time." He said reassuringly.

"She called me about 30xs yesterday and left me 3 voicemails, and sent about a dozen texts apologizing, but..." he sighed. "I'm the one that needs time to cool off."

The man nodded in understanding. "Don't beat yourself up over it. Sounds to me like the girl is jealous or...perhaps insecure"

Daniel looked at him. "You get around a lot back in New York?" he asked trying to be as 'polite' as possible without using the same terminology she did. Daniel sighed "yes" he mumbled. "But that was before I met Betty...I didn't do that as much since she came around. My last relationship, my girlfriend turned out to be a psycho. I never told Betty this, but after my girlfriend almost tried to kill Betty, I thought of her differently. I didn't realize how much she meant to me, but she was with her boyfriend, so I just pretended it was because she was my best friend. So, I tried to go back to the whole dating thing, but when I was on my dates I would feel bored. Once I realized that it was probably because of Betty, I 'pretended' that I went on dates, but I would just go get an ice cream and hang out at the Brooklyn Bridge looking out at the city."

Daniel smiled looking at the man. "That bridge is really special to us...I guess."

The man nodded. "Don't worry, son. You two seem like you've been through a lot together, so I wouldn't give up just yet" he said with a warm smile. Daniel smiled "Thanks"

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AN: I'm HOPING to have the next chapter up tonight! :P Thanks again!


	33. Let's Make-up

**Think of The Firefly**

_AN: Thanks for your reviews! I agree, Betty totally deserved to be made jealous, even though Daniel didn't do it purposefully. Hope you like the story. Even Betty doesn't really know what she's doing anymore. haha _

_Please review! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 33**

**Let's Make-up**

If Betty had to describe herself right now, the words "COLOSSAL IDIOT" come to mind. How could she be so stupid and hurtful to Daniel like that when all he was doing was trying to help her?

She walked through the park. She didn't know where else to go. She'd gone everywhere she thought he might be. She went to Ashley's, she went to their 'special place', she went to his hotel and he wasn't in. Thank God he was still checked in, so that meant he didn't leave to New York.

She sighed sitting in the bench. She ran her hands through her hair and took in a deep breath.

She really messed up. She was so glad for that talk with Mrs. Meade. She didn't know what she would do without her. She was the only person who knew of her plans and of everything that's been happening. She was actually surprised that she hadn't talked to Daniel at all. She just told her to stick to the plan and making Daniel work for a change. It seemed as though Claire was actually thrilled that Betty was challenging him, saying that he's had things too easy in life and it was about time that he learned to be patient and work to get what he wants; although she was extremely proud for how far he's come along since Betty came into his life.

How she wished she could just be back in New York getting a coffee with Daniel...coffee! That's it! Betty quickly got up and made her way. About 15 minutes later, Betty was at the coffee shop she'd gone to so often. How did she forget this place? She was so relieved when she saw Daniel. When Daniel looked up from his coffee, he was surprised to see Betty walking toward the table.

"Betty?" he said looking at her and then back to the cup still hurt from how she treated him.

"Hi Daniel, can we talk?" Betty asked looking at him sadly and then glancing at John.

"I'm right here, Betty." Daniel said looking up at her and then to John.

Betty sighed lightly "Right." She looked around for a moment and then said "Daniel, can we go somewhere?" Daniel looked up at her. "Please?" she said her eyes pleading with him. Daniel sighed "Fine" and got up. "I'll see you later John." John smiled "Luck with the missus"

"Did you tell him about us?" Betty asked as soon as they got outside. Daniel looked at her surprised "us?"

"You know what I mean. About our fight?" Betty said once they started walking.

"What's it matter to you?" Daniel said, not meaning for it to sound so harshly.

"Daniel, please." Betty said tears about to fall. He wanted to stay mad at her, but seeing her just did something to his heart. He didn't know how to stay mad at her. Just seeing her made his heart race all over again.

"Where are we going Betty?" Daniel asked not familiar with the direction they were taking. "To our secret hiding place" Betty said plainly. "It's a secret hiding place now?" Daniel asked amused. Betty looked at him and smiled "it could be."

"Well, which way are we going? This is weird." Daniel said not understanding where they were headed. "It's a short-cut." Betty said matter-of-factly.

"Wow, you really did go to the mountains every day. Did you create secret pathways or something?" Daniel asked in wonder. Betty laughed "maybe"

They remained quiet the whole rest of the way. "Betty, where are we?" he asked not recognizing the area. "_This_ is our secret hiding place" Betty said smiling. "It's a creek not too far from our special place" Daniel laughed "So we have a special place _and_ a secret hiding place?" he looked around admiring the water as it flowed through the rocks. "This is really nice, Betty. Thanks for sharing it with me" he said appreciatively. Betty smiled. "Of course, Daniel"

Betty took a seat on a rock with a flat surface "come sit next to me, Daniel." Daniel came over and sat next to her, waiting for what she wanted to say.

She turned to face him "I'm sorry, Daniel. I really didn't mean to be so mean to you the other day. I was just annoyed."

"Ya, I figured that much, Betty."

"I know you're only trying to help me. I was just so upset that…I really don't know why I was so upset, Daniel. I'm really sorry. Will you forgive me?" Betty said looking at him. Daniel smiled; there was no way he could deny those beautiful eyes from what they wanted. "Of course, Betty…" Betty smiled widely and hugged him to her tightly.

"I felt so awful the entire day yesterday when I thought I hurt you. I really couldn't handle that. I'm so sorry, Daniel. I really am." She pulled back looking away slightly.

"Why were you so mad at me anyway? You said some really mean things" Daniel asked curiously.

"Daniel, I don't know… I'm sorry" Daniel looked at her eyes knowing there was a reason "Betty?" Betty looked at him, and then away "I was uh…I was kind of jealous… that you were dancing with that girl at the event we went to." Betty said looking down at her hands. A smile came across his face. "You were?" So, John was right. Betty must have felt insecure with him hanging out with that Melissa girl all night. What she didn't know was that the only woman he could think about was her. Betty really had no idea how amazing she was.

"Well, ya…you're _my_ friend." Betty said simply, knowing that wasn't a really good reason. Daniel looked at her confused. "Uh, well, ya Betty we are friends. This never bothered you before when we were friends."

Daniel looked at her hands and then her eyes that were still not making contact with him, "Betty, are you sure you don't love me?" Daniel asked looking at her. Betty looked at him "Daniel, no, I don't." Daniel just looked at her, not really buying it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked looking in front of her now. "I don't believe you, Betty."

"Well, believe it Daniel." Betty said adamantly. Daniel took her hand in his and kissed it sweetly. "Daniel…" Betty didn't want to look at him. Daniel held her face softly and kissed her cheek; when she didn't push back he placed kisses along her neck sending tingles through her body. "Daniel…please…stop" Betty said softly in between his kisses as they slowly went lower, making her feel butterflies and her heart pound furiously against her chest. She pulled back "Daniel, I can't do this to you. I don't love you. I'm sorry. You're my friend. I don't want to hurt you. Please, just stop." Daniel looked at her, he knew she loved him; she just didn't want to admit it.

"Well, Betty can I ask you something?" Betty looked at his eyes, "I guess."

"Are you happy here, now?" he asked wanting to know if it was worth anything that he was still there.

"Daniel, you still have three days to ask me that? I'm not answering you until you have to leave."

"Why? Because you think you'll fall in love with me then?" Daniel said with a grin. Betty laughed "No, Daniel, because I don't want you to leave yet" she said looking at him, her eyes watery. Daniel smiled. "Ok, Betty."

Betty quickly added "Don't forget to ask me though" she said slapping his arm playfully. Daniel looked at her "are you sure you don't love me, Betty?" Daniel asked not understanding why she would want him to still ask her that.

"Yes, Daniel I'm sure." Betty said getting up from the rock.

"Daniel?" Betty said as she started to walk.

"Ya, Betty?" he asked attentively, getting up.

"That's strike three Daniel. You definitely broke the rules. No touching!"

Daniel sighed "Fine Betty" he could have come back with smart-ass remarks and flirted with Betty, but he already pushed the bar on what he did.

"Oh, and Daniel…"

"Yes?" he sighed not sure if he wanted to hear what was next.

"You owe me LOTS of ice cream." Betty said giggling. Daniel laughed "You got it Betty"

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AN: I know this chapter was a little shorter, but I will try and make the others a little longer :P Yes! I can't wait to get through with this week...in the story! haha 2 more days! lol :P


	34. Are You Ignoring Me?

**Think of The Firefly**

_Hi. I know my updating sucks terribly. I don't really have a lot of free time since school started back up and I have two jobs. I try to write when I can. I am really sorry. I hope that you still enjoy it! :) _

_This chapter is sort of shorter than others but I will most likely have the next part up soon! :D Thanks again for your support and encouragement. Lots of love to you all! _

_For entertainment only! :P_

* * *

**Chapter 34**

**Are You Ignoring Me?**

_Day 5 – week 2..._

Daniel stepped out of the waiting cab and leaned against the door reading the strange text Betty had sent him.

_Are you ignoring me?_

He didn't know what would make her think that. They didn't talk as much today at work, but it wasn't because he was ignoring her, they were simply just working.

He sighed. Why did things have to be so complicated?

He wished he would have said no to her leaving to Tucson, but then she probably would have resented him. He wasn't even sure if he would have been able to tell Betty he was in love with her even if he did realize it before she left. Maybe that would have stopped her from going? Or it could have scared her and urged her to go more.

He realized it was pointless thinking about other possible scenarios because it was this one that he was in. He wasn't sure how to respond to Betty.

_No. why do you think that? _He sent the message when he heard "Daniel!" he looked up to see Hilda and Justin, and Mr. Suarez following behind approaching him. He smiled and walked over. Hilda hugged him tight and Justin high fived him. Mr. Suarez shook his hand. He always loved being with them. They made him feel cared about.

"Hey, it's good to see you." He said looking at them. "Thanks for flying us here, mijo"

"Anytime, Mr. Suarez. I'm sure Betty will be really happy to see you guys"

"Thanks Daniel. We miss her so much!" Hilda said

"Seriously, it's so boring without Betty's insane life and the MODE drama that we used to get. She was our own live novella" Justin added sounding super dramatic. Daniel and Ignacio laughed.

Hilda ruffled his hair "Mom, quit it" Justin swatted her hand away fixing his hair back.

Daniel laughed "Come on, you guys can stay at the hotel I'm in." He opened the door ushering them in the cab and then putting their bags in the trunk. When he put the last bag in the trunk he heard his phone buzz. He took a breath and opened it sliding in the back next to Justin.

_We didn't really talk. You kind of just left. _She replied back.

_We were busy. There wasn't much time. And I had to go work on some things. _He responded not wanting to give away his surprise of bringing her family. Justin looked at him seeing his stressed face. "How are things?" he asked. Daniel looked to him letting out a breath. "Um...alright, I guess."

Justin looked at him skeptically. Daniel sighed "I don't know. Confusing" he responded using the only word that could come to mind to describe how he felt.

"Did you tell Betty?" Hilda asked leaning forward and looking at him with this penetrating look. He smirked. "Yes, I did, Hilda."

"And?" she urged him to elaborate. "And...Nothing" he said looking down at the phone in his hand. "Oh, please. That girl is loca, I tell you!" Hilda said in a fit waving her hands about in frustration. Daniel looked at her amused.

"What did she do?" Mr. Suarez asked curiously. "She keeps telling me she doesn't love me, but I don't know...I don't really believe her." Daniel responded sighing and leaning back in his seat.

"Of course not! Because that girl is nuts about you!" Hilda said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's true, D. Her diary is filled with stuff about you." Justin said with Hilda smacking his arm. Daniel looked at them with wide eyes. "Really? What did she write about me?"

"It's nothing obvious or anything. It's just the fact that she goes on and on about you. She has to be totally in love with you." Justin stated surely.

Daniel sighed when he got a text from Betty.

_I missed you. _He stared at it for a minute his heart racing. Why was she being so darn confusing? He wanted to scream!

_Do you love me yet? _He didn't know how else to respond. The frustration was getting to him.

"Don't give up, mijo!" he heard Mr. Suarez say and for some reason hearing that from him gave him hope.

"If I gave up on Hilda and Betty's mother, I wouldn't have two wonderful daughters and my grandson" he said, making both Hilda and Justin smile. They both looked to Daniel.

He smiled "thanks. I think I really needed to hear that."

"I got you guys a suite close to my room. I have a feeling you will enjoy it Justin."

Justin's eyes lit up. "Betty was telling me how you would freak if you saw the rooms."

Hilda smirked. "So, Betty's been over?"

Daniel smiled, feeling his face warm up. Hilda and Justin grinned. "She came over a couple of times and we just hung out playing games, eating ice cream and watching a movie."

A light smile came across his face "we had a pillow fight and were jumping on the bed; it was fun."

Hilda and Justin smiled listening to him. He looked to them the light-filled smile turned into a sad smile. "When we uh...fell asleep, I ended up waking up a short while after and I don't know when I saw her next to me I felt like my heart lifted; I couldn't help it, I kissed her cheek."

All of them smiled just listening to the supposed 'player extraordinaire' sound so sweet talking about their Betty. "...when I kissed her, she hugged me closer and mumbled that she loved me."

Hilda and Justin's eyes lit up, huge smiles coming to their faces. "I wanted to wake her up and ask her, but she was sleepy. She sounded so cute" he said with a small smile.

They both looked sad, but then Mr. Suarez spoke "I know my daughter. Don't give up, mijo"

"I agree, Daniel. My Aunt Betty totally loves you."

Hilda shook her head "That loca, I tell you. Let me ask you, what happened when you told her you loved her?" Hilda asked curiously.

Daniel grinned making both Justin and Hilda smile curiously. "I kissed her and she definitely kissed me back. I know she loves me. She has to. I can feel it, but I don't know why she is not admitting it." He said smoothing out his shirt distractedly.

"I wonder why she's not telling you. Maybe we could talk some sense into her" Hilda said in contemplation. "I don't know. I don't want everyone to gang up on her. I don't want her to feel pressured into loving me. I want her to love me because she loves me not because her family is telling her she's crazy or something" he said with a laugh.

They smiled and nodded in understanding. They were dropped at the hotel, settling in to surprise Betty in the morning. Daniel loved seeing their eyes light up when they walked into the hotel room he got them. They spent the night together eating dinner and talking about things that Betty did or said to him which only fueled his own love for her and also fueled her family's declarations that she not only loved him but was deeply in love with him.

Daniel was so glad that he brought them here. They really were like his family. He loved being with them and he went to sleep with a content smile on his face and a hopeful heart.

* * *

_AN: Again, I know its' a little short, but I will try and get the next part up as soon as I can and make it maybe longer. :D Thanks for reading! :P love youuuuu! _


	35. True Love Lasts

**Think of The Firefly**

_Hi! THANKS SO MUCH for your reviews and encouragement! Love you all so much! :D Hope you like the next chapter! :) Thanks again for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!_

_For entertainment only! :P_

* * *

**Chapter 35**

**True Love Lasts**

"Mrs. Meade, I can't do it anymore" Betty mumbled into the phone wiping at the tears on her face.

"Betty dear, calm down, are you alright? I can't understand a word you said." Claire answered wondering what was making her so upset.

Betty took a deep breath and tried to gather her nerves. The tears slipped despite that. "Mrs. Meade, I, I love him. He text me, asking me if... if I love him yet" she mumbled in between her sniffling and slight sobbing "I don't want to hurt him. I don't think I can follow through with the plan anymore. I don't want him to think I don't love him"

Claire shook her head "Betty, sweetheart, trust me"

"but...but, what if he stops loving me?" Betty said wiping the tears that just kept slipping. Claire could here Betty crying, but she smiled "Betty...are you listening?" she said calmly.

"Mhm..." Betty mumbled. "True love doesn't just go away. True love doesn't allow you to stop loving even if it's not reciprocated. If my son truly loves you, which I know he does, he's going to love you now, tomorrow, a week from now, a year from now, and as long as he lives. That's not going to change, Betty, because you already filled up his heart"

Betty hugged Mr. Bear to her tightly trying to not cry.

"And dear, it's only a few more days." She added in an amused tone.

Betty laughed "I know, but it feels like forever"

"Now, just think how much Daniel will be surprised? He's going to love you more." Claire added thinking about what Betty wanted to do for him. It even shocked her and when Betty told her she felt like a giddy schoolgirl. It was exciting, because she felt Betty was like her daughter and she was also her friend, so it made her really happy to know of her plans. Especially because they involved her son; her sometimes idiotic, yet sweet loving Daniel.

Betty smiled hugging her bear. "...are you sure?" Betty whispered her heart racing. "Yes, sweetheart. You've got to have faith in me. I am the boy's mother, after all."

Betty laughed through her tears "Thanks...Mrs. Meade. I love you" Betty said wanting to tell at least her that she loved her. Claire smiled "I love you, too, dear. Daniel loves you very much Betty. He has a lot of faith in your love, I'm sure. I can see that you have a lot of faith in his since you had come up with that idea."

Betty smiled.

"I promise you sweetheart that he will see that it was all worth it in the end." Claire added. Betty smiled hugging her bear again. "Thanks Mrs. Meade"

"Anytime my love"

Betty smiled feeling her eyes fill up. She loved Mrs. Meade. It always felt like her mom was with her when she talked to Mrs. Meade and how much Mrs. Meade was so kind to her. Betty trusted her as much as she trusted Daniel.

"Oh and Betty?"

"Yes?"

"I can't wait!" Claire said happily. Betty laughed.

"Good night sweetheart"

"Night Mrs. Meade. Thank you, again."

"No need Betty. I love you, dear"

Betty smiled, a tear slipping hearing her say that. She really wanted to tell Daniel she loved him now. "Love you, too. Bye..."

Claire smiled and hung up shaking her head knowing that it was going to be very hard for Betty the next couple of days. She would be excited with whatever happened, but she really hoped Betty could stick with her plan. It was so exciting and she was sure that Daniel would be really surprised with everything.

As soon as Betty hung up she really wanted to see Daniel and at least hug him. She sighed. Betty turned Mr. Bear so she was looking at his front side. "He'll still love me, right?"

Betty looked at her bear with its lopsided smile and the red NY printed on the shirt and its bright eyes; she smiled "I hope so. I love him a lot. Can you magically tell him in a dream or something for me?" Betty said feeling silly for talking to Mr. Bear, but she had to.

Betty heard a knock on her door. She hugged her bear "Come in"

The door opened and Henry stood against the frame. "How are you?"

Betty smiled "I'm okay. I was talking to Mr. Bear" She said with a smirk holding up her bear. He smiled "Where did you get that?" he asked curiously.

Betty smiled and looked at it and then back at him "Daniel...he got it for me to make me feel better after I fell into the stream." Betty said with a sad smile. Henry walked in and sat on the edge of her bed next to her. "I'm really sorry, Betty."

Betty looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"For not being there. I was really selfish. I made you feel like you had nobody here. I'm so sorry."

Betty felt tears fill her eyes because that _is _how she felt and she also felt bad that he was feeling bad. "Henry, we're friends now." Betty said with a reassuring smile.

Henry looked at her and smiled. "I'm glad."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I like you as my friend more, because you're paying more attention to me now than when we were together" Betty said wanting to be honest with him. Henry laughed "I know. How crappy was I as a boyfriend. I'm sorry, Betty." He smiled "I'm glad we're friends, too"

Betty smiled and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her "You're leaving soon, huh?" Henry asked still holding onto her. Betty nodded against him "ya...I just...I don't belong here, Henry. I miss my family."

Henry pulled back and looked at her "I know" he nodded in understanding. He smiled. "You look so beautiful" he said with a light smile. "I just wanted you to know that because you're so pretty Betty. I'm happy that you feel pretty"

Betty smiled and hugged him again "Thanks Henry! You see, so much better as friends" she said with a laugh, her eyes filling up. Henry laughed hugging her tighter. "Good night, Betty" he let go of her and got up. She slipped under the covers. He smiled looking at her.

"Good night, Henry" Betty said smiling up at him and picking up Mr. Bear and holding him to her. Henry smirked and leaned over placing a kiss to her cheek. "You're cute. Sleep tight. And don't let your teddy bear bite."

Betty giggled "Sweet dreams, Henry." Henry smiled and left her room turning out the light as he left. He felt really happy that he and Betty were getting along so well as friends. He made a promise to himself and Betty that he was going to be a better friend to her and he meant it. He felt like he was doing a decent job.

Betty laid back a smile on her face. She really did love being friends with Henry. He was more sweet and attentive to her as a friend than he was as her boyfriend. Betty turned on her side kissing Mr. Bear. "I love you, Daniel." Betty said as she pressed her cheek against her bear's face.

* * *

AN: :D smiles! Love Mrs. Meade so much! lol Hope you enjoy. I might pass out tomorrow at work for sleeping so late. If I do you guys owe me! Lol :P

I hope you like it though! Good night/day! :) sweet dreams to you guys too! :D Please review!


	36. The Sweet Side of Things

**Think of The Firefly**

_AN: hiiii! it's been for freaking EVER since I updated this story. So sorry about the ridiculous wait. i hope you're still interested. This is a pretty long chapter. Hope you like it. Let me know. _

_For entertainment only! :P_

* * *

**Chapter 36**

**The Sweet Side of Things**

_Day 6 – week 2_

Daniel started opening his eyes, a smile on his face. He had the best dream. Well, one of the best dreams. Any dream that involved him and Betty he considered a best dream.

He had a dream that he woke up to see the Teddy Bear he got her sitting on top of her pillow with a small black box next to it. He smiled sitting up and picked up the box.

He opened the box and saw a note, smiling wide as he read it.

_I can't wait to marry you._

_I love you, Daniel._

He felt his heart soar. "Hey" he heard her sweet voice and looked to her. "Hi" he took her hand, looking at the ring that adorned her finger. He smiled and pulled her to him. "I love you, too" he pulled her closer and kissed her lips.

She hugged him. He stood up and spun her a little making her giggle. He loved her laugh. He hugged her tighter.

Daniel found himself hugging his pillow tightly. He placed the pillow next to him and sat up. A huge smile cast his face remembering that he brought Betty's family here and the thought of seeing her smile after she saw them made his heart fill up.

Daniel got up taking a shower and got dressed. He figured he'd take everyone to lunch later. When he was about to leave his room, he stopped when he noticed a yellow rose on a silver tray and a card next to it. He looked at it and felt his insides tingle. He picked up the card.

"_I already love you. I have something special planned for you" _Daniel read the note and felt his heart jump. Was that from Betty? It had to be from Betty? How did she get it here? He didn't know what to think.

He wasn't 100% sure if she just meant it in a friend way, but he just really loved that Betty said she loved him. And the surprise got him curious, no doubt. He wondered what she was planning. He picked up the flower and smiled. He thought about the dream.

Daniel smiled looking at the flower. "I love you, Betty."

Daniel placed the flower in the pocket of his shirt. He wanted to keep it close to his heart. He couldn't understand how Betty made him feel. He knew he was deeply in love with her. He'd never felt this way about anyone; and whenever he thought of how he felt about Betty, he felt his heart swell with even more love for her.

He left his room and knocked on the door to Betty's family's room. It wasn't until the second knock that the door opened and Justin appeared on the other side, his hair sticking up in some places still in his pajamas.

Daniel laughed upon seeing him. "Hey. Sorry, if I woke you."

Justin smiled. "It's okay. Come inside" Justin said as he took hold of Daniel's hand pulling him in. Daniel smiled.

"Grandpa's just getting dressed and mom is harassing the hot room service guy." Justin stated rolling his eyes.

Daniel laughed. "So, guess what?" Daniel said with a wide smile as he took a seat in one of the comfy wing chairs in the room. Justin smiled eagerly taking a seat next to him. "WHAT?"

"Betty wrote me this note" he said pulling it out of his pocket and handing it to him. Justin's eyes lit up as he read it. "O.M.G."

Daniel laughed. "And..."

"AND?" he repeated excitedly. "She got me this flower, too" he said pointing to the flower in his shirt pocket.

"OMG, OMG! She totally loves you. She has to! She would NOT do that if she didn't"

Daniel smiled, but then wondered. "I don't understand Justin. She tells me and acts like she loves me, but then when I tell her she says she doesn't love me. That she loves me, but not THAT way." He stated feeling confused.

Justin shrugged "I'm not sure. Maybe she's scared to love you in that way."

"Why?" he asked curiously. Justin shook his head. "Maybe because you're really important to her"

"You think so?"

Justin shook his head enthusiastically.

"ARE YOU KIDDING?" they both turned to see Hilda come up. "That girl is crazy about you. You should have seen her every time you called her over the years. "Daniel Needs Me""

They all laughed, including Mr. Suarez who walked into the room from the bathroom. "So, I don't know. Do you think I should back off a little bit?"

"Maybe I won't bug her as much while you guys are here and just give her some space to think about it or something?" he stated.

They shrugged and nodded.

"All right, I'm going to treat you guys to some lunch later, so maybe we should go and surprise Betty."

They all nodded happily. Justin quickly got dressed and Daniel was telling Hilda and Mr. Suarez about Betty's event. He was so happy to have them here. He felt his heart warm up thinking of them possibly being a part of his family. _If_, no, _WHEN_ Betty marries him. He smiled.

They made their way to Betty's, her family really excited and happy to see her again.

Betty had been making calls all morning and finishing up the last details and plans for the event. As she got off the phone, she sighed. She couldn't believe, tonight, an event she planned was going to come to life. It scared and thrilled her. Betty instantly thought of Daniel. She couldn't see herself doing this all without his help and encouragement.

She smiled. She wondered if she went too far with the card she sent for him. She really didn't want to break his heart. She just really wanted him to know that she did love him, but she didn't want to mess up the surprise. She knew it really would be worth it in the end. She hoped he would be happy. She really couldn't believe that he loved her so much. It made her heart race.

Betty heard the bell ring a few times.

Betty's family stood at the door eagerly, when Daniel started walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Hilda called running up behind him and grabbing his arm.

"I'm just going to go for a walk."

Hilda looked at him strangely. "But what about Betty?"

He smiled. "I want you guys to see her."

"...but, where are you going?"

"It's nowhere, just...A special place" he mumbled.

Hilda frowned slightly. "Alright"

"It's okay. I'll see you later" He smiled and walked off.

Betty headed down the stairs and to the door. When she opened the door, her eyes went wide and a huge smile brightened up her face. "Ahhh... Oh my God!" She said in surprise.

"SURPRISE!" they all cheered.

She felt tears well in her eyes. Hilda and Justin pulled her out and hugged her tight. She hugged them tighter. "What are you guys doing here?" she said in shock. She hugged her father, a smile on her face. He smiled kissing her forehead.

"Daniel brought us here to surprise you for your event"

Betty felt the butterflies in her heart rush. She smiled, "really?"

They all smiled and nodded. "Where's Daniel?" she asked curiously.

"He walked off somewhere. He mumbled something about a special place or something" Hilda said in confusion.

Betty smiled. "You guys, I'll be right back. Come in. I'll be back in a minute" she quickly ran off.

They all looked at each other in wonder, but shrugged and went inside. Betty couldn't smack the smile off her face. She really didn't know what to do. What was she going to do when she saw him? She really didn't care. She wanted to give him the biggest hug ever. She couldn't believe he did that. She smiled and she climbed up the mountain as quick as she could.

She smiled even brighter when she saw him standing a little close to the edge.

"Daniel!" she sang happily. Daniel smiled feeling his heart lift off at the sound of her voice. Betty ran up hugging him from behind so tightly, he nearly fell forward. "Betty!" he shouted realizing they were at the top of a mountain.

"Sorry" she said trying to catch her breath. "I can't believe you did that for me?" she stated in admiration. He smiled.

"Did you do this to get me to fall in love with you or something?" she asked slightly teasingly, but appreciative, now coming to his side.

"Actually, no Betty… I just wanted to do something nice for you. I knew this was important to you, so I thought you would like for your family to be here." He replied.

"Oh"

"You seem disappointed" he said looking at her.

"No." she was quiet for a minute "I'm just surprised that's all."

"Why's that?" He asked curiously.

"Nothing…I just thought…never mind."

"What Betty? What were you thinking?" he asked now really curious about what she had thought.

"Do you still love me?" she asked wonderingly. Daniel looked at her with his eyebrows raised, not sure if he should jump up and down in happiness or go hide in a hole somewhere. "Why do you ask, Betty?"

He thought about her note and flower, "Do you love _me_?" he added looking at her eyes trying to read them.

"I was just asking" she said plainly.

"What? To see if I still loved you or something?" Daniel said upset. "I love you, Betty. It's not something I can change my mind about, and quite frankly I don't want to, but if you want me to pretend like we're only friends then fine, but I'm not going to pretend I don't love you. You said you didn't love me, so I'm backing off." Daniel said upset now definitely wanting to go hide in a hole somewhere.

"Can't I just do something nice for you, Betty?" he added not wanting to ruin Betty's night.

"I did nice things like this for you all the time and we were only friends then, so me being in love with you doesn't change the fact that I want to do nice things for you."

Betty didn't know what to do. She felt lost. She fought the tears that threatened to form. "I'm sorry Daniel. Thank you for being so sweet! I really do appreciate our friendship and everything you've done for me. I hope you don't hate me" she said sadly not sure what she was doing anymore.

Daniel looked at her "Betty, come on girl, I'm telling you I love you." He laughed not understanding what was going through her mind. "Do you just want to go have lunch with your family, Betty?" Daniel asked not wanting to…hell, he didn't know; he just wanted to stop going in circles with Betty.

Betty smiled "sure, let's go." Betty said grabbing his arm and pulling him along.

Daniel looked at her confused "You want _me_ to come?" Betty looked at him like he had two heads "Daniel, what? You brought my family here, why wouldn't I want _you_ to come? Silly." She said poking his arm.

"Well, aren't you um, going to invite, uh Henry?" he asked. Betty looked at him surprised "wow, Daniel, you actually said his name" she laughed.

"Shut up, Betty" Daniel said smacking her arm playfully.

"So, why did you finally say his name?" she asked in wonder as they walked down the mountain to the house.

"Well, I mean if you 'love' him Betty, and you're happy, then I guess I should call him by his name, right?" he said wanting to sound supportive.

Betty smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you"

Just the fact that Daniel would be happy for her even if she 'didn't' love him made her love him a million times more. She knew she was torturing him right now; she really felt horrible for playing with his heart. She tried to avoid that as much as possible, but he made it near impossible with everything he said and did. One more day...just one more day...

Daniel's head was spinning; he didn't understand what Betty was doing. Was she playing games with him, or was she really convinced that she didn't love him?

* * *

AN: Hope you still like the story. Thanks for reading. :D


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